The Iron Wedge

A priest and history teacher, Lionel Groulx is considered by some to be the spiritual father of modern Quebec. Trained in theology at Rome, he turned to history in order to inculcate a stronger desire by French Canadians to survive in a sea of Anglo-Saxons. During World War I, he assumed the chair in Canadian history at Laval University's Montreal show more campus. Sharp conflicts between French Canadians and English Canadians over conscription and language rights doubtless accelerated the evolution of his overtly nationalist perspective. After the war he engaged in historical research and in political activity through the Catholic Action movement. Groulx left a legacy that includes an enormous body of writings produced over nearly a half-century of vigorous activity in scholarship and political advocacy. In 1947 he founded the major professional journal in French Canadian history, Revue d'> Histoire de l'Amerique Francaise (Review of the History of French America), and he helped to prepare a generation of professionally trained historians. His writings provided an ideological framework for the Quiet Revolution in Quebec during the 1960s. >P> (Bowker Author Biography) show less