Gaëtane de Montreuil was the pen name of Géorgina Bélanger (January 22, 1867 – June 24, 1951), a writer in Quebec. She has been described as one of the leading early Canadian women journalists.[1][2]

Gaëtane de Montreuil

The daughter of Ambroise Belanger and Berenice-Louise-Veronique Sedilot, she was born in Quebec City. She graduated from the École normale in 1885. She worked as a journalist for various publications including Le Coin du feu, Le Monde illustré and La Presse. In 1913, she started her own magazine Pour vous Mesdames, targeted at a female audience. She also published short stories and novels and, in 1917, a collection of poetry Les rêves morts.[3] Her 1912 novel Fleur des ondes was very successful and she adapted it for the stage the following year.[4]

In 1913, with Éva Circé-Côté, she founded the first lay institution of higher learning for young women in Quebec. De Montreuil is considered to be an early feminist.[4]

She founded a society which promoted settlement in northern Quebec, Union des gens de chez nous.[3]

De Montreuil married the painter Charles Gill in 1902; he died in 1918.[3][1]

She died in Montreal at the age of 84.[1]

Her life inspired Louise Simard's 1996 novel Le médaillon dérobé.[3]

Rue Gaëtane-De Montreuil in Quebec City was named in her honour.[3] There is also a Rue Gaëtane-De Montreuil in Lévis.[5]

External links edit

  • de Montreuil, Gaëtane (1912). Fleur des ondes.

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Arbre généalogique famille: Belanger". nosorigines.qc.ca (in French).
  2. ^ New, W H (2003). A History of Canadian Literature. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. p. 113. ISBN 0773571361.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Gaëtane-De Montreuil" (in French). Quebec City.
  4. ^ a b Gagnon, Claude (Spring 2005). "Gaëtane de Montreuil, Femme de lettres et féministe avant la lettre" (PDF) (in French). La Société d'histoire du Plateau-Mont-Royal.
  5. ^ "Rue Gaëtane-De Montreuil" (in French). Commission de toponymie Québec.