National Library News June 1999 Vol. 31, no. 6

Obituary

Staff and Friends of the National Library of Canada regretfully learned of the death of Professor René de Chantal, in Ottawa in November 1998. Professor de Chantal was a member of the National Library Advisory Board and its chairman from 1975-1979. A professor of French literature and a linguist, Professor de Chantal was born in Moose Creek, Ontario in 1923 and studied at the University of Ottawa, McGill University and the Université de Paris, where he obtained a doctorate with a remarkable thesis entitled Marcel Proust, critique littéraire, which was also published by Presses de l’Université de Montréal in 1967. He also dedicated a significant part of his activities to the defence of the French language, publishing Chroniques de français at the University of Ottawa. He first taught at the University of Ottawa, then at the Université de Montréal where he was a full professor, dean of the Faculty of Arts, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and then vice-president. Appointed to the Department of External Affairs in 1966 as Director of Cultural Affairs, he later became the minister at the Canadian embassy in Paris. Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Académie canadienne-française, Professor de Chantal was awarded Montreal’s Grand prix littéraire and received an award from the Académie française. We would like to extend our deepest condolences to his wife and children.