Antonine Maillet (10 May 1929 – 17 February 2025) was an Acadian novelist, playwright and scholar.
Early life and education Maillet was born on 10 May 1929 in Bouctouche, New Brunswick,"Antonine Maillet." Paroles d'Acadie : Anthologie de la littérature acadienne (1958-2009), edited by David Lonergan, Prise de paroles, pp. 41-68. as one of nine children in her family. Her mother died when she was 14 and her father died 10 years after. Following high school, Maillet received her BA from the Collège Notre-Dame d'Acadie in 1950, followed by an MA from the Université de Moncton in 1959. She then received her PhD in literature in 1971 from the Université Laval. Her thesis is entitled Rabelais et les traditions populaires en Acadie.Bottos, Katia. Antonine Maillet conteuse de l'Acadie ou l'encre de l'aède. L'Harmattan, 2011.Buck, Claire (1992). Bloomsbury guide to women's literature. London: Bloomsbury. . OCLC 185786618.
Career Maillet taught literature and folklore at the collège Notre-Dame d'Acadie (1954–1960), the Université de Moncton (1965–1967), the Collège des Jésuites de Québec (1968–1969), the Université Laval (1971–1974), and the Université de Montréal between (1974–1975). She later worked for Radio-Canada in Moncton as a scriptwriter and host. In 1988, Maillet hosted the French-language Leaders' Debate for Radio-Canada TV between Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Liberal Party of Canada Leader John Turner, and New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent. From 1989 to 2000, she served as chancellor of the Université de Moncton.
In 1976, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1981. Maillet was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Lorne Pierce Medal in 1980. In 1985, she was made an Officier des Arts et des Lettres de France and in 2005, she was inducted into the Order of New Brunswick. She was a member of the King's Privy Council for Canada from 1 July 1992. This gave her the right to the honorific prefix "The Honourable" and the Post Nominal Letters "PC" for Life. In 1979, her work Pélagie-la-Charrette won the Prix Goncourt, making her the first non-European recipient. This book was written in the Acadian vernacular.
In 1994, the Collège Militaire Royal theatre group performed in a play by Maillet both at CMR and at Royal Military College of Canada. Maillet was granted an Honorary Degree from RMC in 1995.
Personal life and death In 2022, Maillet publicly came out as a lesbian, having been in a relationship with actress and theatre director Mercedes Palomino until her death in 2006. Maillet died in her sleep during the night of 17 February 2025, at her home in Montreal. She was 95.
Selected works Pointe-aux-Coques – 1958 On a mangé la dune – 1962 Les Crasseux – 1968 La Sagouine – 1971 Rabelais et les traditions populaires en Acadie – 1971 Don l'Orignal – 1972 (winner of the (1972 Governor General's Award for Fiction) Par derrière chez mon père – 1972 Gapi et Sullivan – 1973 L'Acadie pour quasiment rien – 1973 Mariaagélas – 1973 Évangéline Deusse – 1975 Gapi – 1976 La veuve enragée – 1977 Les Cordes-de-bois – 1977 Le Bourgeois Gentleman – 1978 :fr:Pélagie-la-Charrette – 1979 (winner of the Prix Goncourt) Cent ans dans les bois – 1981 Christophe Cartier de la Noisette dit Nounours, conte jeunesse illustré par Hans Troxler La Contrebandière – 1981 Les drolatiques, horrifiques et épouvantables aventures de Panurge, ami de Pantagruel – 1981 La Gribouille – 1982 Crache à pic – 1984 Garrochés en paradis – 1986 Le Huitième Jour – 1986 Margot la folle – 1987 L'oursiade – 1990 William S. – 1991 Les confessions de Jeanne de Valois – 1992 La nuit des rois – 1993 La Fontaine ou la Comédie des Animaux – 1995 Le Chemin Saint-Jacques – 1996 L'Île-aux-Puces – 1996 Chronique d'une sorcière de vent – 1999 Madame Perfecta – 2002 Le temps me dure – 2003 Pierre Bleu – 2006 Le Mystérieux Voyage de Rien – 2009 Fais confiance à la mer, elle te portera – 2010
See also List of French Canadian writers from outside Quebec List of Quebec authors Acadian theatre
Notes
References
External links
Antonine Maillet Profile at Government of Canada CBC Digital Archives – Antonine Maillet, Acadian Avenger La Sagouine, Acadian tourist attraction Antonine Maillet - The Possibilities Are Endless (Trailer), National Film Board of Canada Antonine Maillet, Novelist - Cover story, Atlantic Insight Magazine, July 1980 Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca