Remembering Jacques Lacoursière
Renowned Quebec historian was a member of Canada’s History’s board of directors and co-editor of ‘Québec a 400 ans,’ the first-ever bilingual edition of The Beaver.
Canada’s History Society was saddened to learn of the passing this spring of Quebec historian Jacques Lacoursière at the age of eighty-nine. A respected author of more than a dozen non-fiction history books and published papers, Lacoursière also had a successful career as a radio and television broadcaster. He was especially famed for his ability to popularize history and to make it accessible to all citizens.
Born on May 4, 1932, in Shawinigan, Quebec, Lacoursière grew up in a large family. In his youth he expressed an interest in joining the priesthood.
In the 1950s, he attended university and was at first drawn to the study of literature. However, one of his professors, Denis Vaugeois, sparked in him an interest in history. In 1957, Lacoursière married Monique Dubois in Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
After a period in Quebec’s civil service in the 1960s, Lacoursière began a new career as a writer, editor, and publisher. He worked at the historical review Nos Racines and launched, with Vaugeois as a partner, Le Boréal Express. He also wrote the five-volume Histoire populaire du Québec.
The 1970s saw Lacoursière embrace broadcasting as a medium for sharing history with a wide audience. He was a key researcher on a Radio-Canada series about Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis and also acted as the host of the television series Épopée en Amérique.
Lacoursière joined the board of Canada’s History in 2007. In 2008, he co-edited “Quebec at 400/ Québec a 400 ans,” the first-ever bilingual issue of The Beaver. The special edition, produced for the quatercentenary of the founding of Quebec, was a tremendous success both in that province and across the country.
“Jacques Lacoursière was a tremendous storyteller,” said Mark Collin Reid, editor-in-chief of Canada’s History and the co-editor of “Quebec at 400.” “He had a special talent for making Quebec’s history interesting, engaging, and relevant to all Quebecers and Canadians.”
The recipient of numerous awards and honours, Lacoursière was inducted into France’s Légion d’honneur, was a member of the Order of Canada, and was named a Knight of the National Order of Quebec. He was also the first francophone recipient of the Governor General’s History Award for Popular Media: The Pierre Berton Award.