Beaugrand, Honoré, 1849-1906

Honoré Beaugrand (baptized Marie-Louis-Honoré) was born on March 24, in St. Joseph de Lanoraie, Quebec.

He was a French-Canadian journalist, politician, author, and folklorist. He took a short course at the School of Military Instruction of Montreal. At the age of 17, he left Canada and he did not return until 13 years later. He went first to Mexico, where he fought in the Emperor Maximilian’s army. When the war ended in 1867, he followed the troops to France. He then lived in the United States and Mexico, working at various trades. By 1871 he was in Fall River, Massachusetts where he became a leading figure among the immigrants from Quebec, launching a Franco-American cause newspaper L’Écho du Canada. He returned to Montreal and launched first a satirical weekly, Le Farceur, and then, in 1879, La Patrie, a liberal daily that would remain in his hands until 1897. For the next 10 or 12 years, he concentrated on politics and on managing his newspaper. He was twice elected mayor of Montreal (1885–87). He spent the last 15 years of his life travelling (Mediterranean basin, the American southwest, and the Far East) and writing. He is most famous in Quebec for writing down the legend of the "Chasse-galerie", published in 1891 in "La chasse galerie: légendes canadiennes". Today, a street in Montreal and the Honoré-Beaugrand metro station are named in his honour.

He died on October 7, 1906, in Montreal, Quebec.