Fréchette, Louis Honoré

Fréchette, Louis Honoré (lwē ônôrā` frāshĕt`), 1839–1908, French Canadian poet and politician, b. Lévis, Que. He worked (1865–71) as a journalist in Chicago and while there wrote a volume of poetry entitled La Voix d'un exilé [the voice of an exile] (1866–68). Returning to Canada, he served in Parliament (1874–78), tried journalism again, and in 1889 received a government clerkship, which he held until his death. His volumes of poetry include Les Oiseaux de neige [snowbirds] (1879), on old Quebec, and La Légende d'un peuple [the story of a people] (1887), an epic of the French Canadians. He was the first Canadian poet to be honored by the French Academy. His collected poems appeared posthumously in 1908.