Louis Fréchette - playwright, poet, journalist - was born in nov. 16, 1839, in Hadlow Cove, near St-Joseph de Lévis (near Québec city) and died in 1908. His cousin was Sir Wilfrid Laurier, and he is a founding member of the first Sociétée St-Jean-Baptiste.

"By authoring Les Contes de Jos Violon, Fréchette is known as one of the best story-tellers of Québecois literature. The tales I present to the public are the integral version of the Contes de Jos Violon, as it was written by Fréchette 100 years ago... and as it was told to him by the real Jos Violon during story-telling nights in his village, during the first half of the 1800 's. So, Jos Violon is not only a character but a real person whom Fréchette had met in his youth!" - Raymond Philippe

He began writing plays in his student years and was already being performed before he left university. His writings would be influenced as much by Shakespeare and Longfellow as by Victor Hugo.

His first major work, Félix Poutré, was a huge success at the Salle de Musique de Québec in 1862. With its long political tirades, the work's success had much to do with the political climate at the time and the rise of Nationalism in the land.

He attended the schools of his native town, and completed his studies at the Seminary of Nicolet, after which he chose the profession of law, and in 1864 was admitted to the Bar at Québec. As clients did not come as quickly as he desired he decided to go to Chicago, where for seven years he worked as a journalist, and became corresponding secretary of the land department of the Illinois Central Railroad.

Click to enlarge. PRODUCTION DETAILS Fréchette BIOGRAPHY PRESS CLIPPINGS COMMENTS CONTACT

In 1871 Fréchette returned to Canada, and in 1874 was elected a deputy in the House of Commons by the Liberal party. Defeated in the general elections of 1878 and 1882, he abandoned public life and returned to journalism.

He enjoyed relative success with the premiere of Papineau (L'Académie de Musique, Montréal, 1880), which was declared a literary and patriotic success despite the fact that its structure was awkward and its effect could never equal the punch of Félix Poutré. In each of his plays, the pro-Nationalist (Patriotes) messages were hammered home, but with such lush lyricism that he was capturing the hearts of much of the cultural élite. He and his works had their enemies, of course, and he was attacked for using the sacred theatre as merely a pulpit for political propaganda. A journalistic effort was mounted to destroy Fréchette but may have just tired him.

His works mellowed, somewhat, with the turn of the century when his play Veronica was performed at the Théâtre des Nouveautés. This tragedy was praised for revealing Fréchette as something more than a speechmaker. The tone of the work was inspired by the recent visit, to Montréal, of Sarah Bernhardt whose performances Fréchette never missed.

However, after Fréchette's death, correspondence was discovered that revealed Veronica's plot had been lifted from other sources and merely recomposed in verse.

Despite this, Fréchette is considered an important figure in the creation of a Québec theatre. The larger hall of the Grand Théâtre, Québec, is named in his honour. He was the first Canadian poet to be honored by the French Academy. His collected poems appeared posthumously in 1908. Here is another review of Fréchette's life and career.