Jacques Ferron

Who was Jacques Ferron?

Jacques Ferron was a Canadian physician and author.

Jacques Ferron was born in Louiseville, Quebec, the son of Joseph-Alphonse Ferron and Adrienne Caron. On March 5, 1931 his mother died. He attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf but was expelled in 1936. He continued his education at Collège Saint-Laurent and then was readmitted at Jean-de-Brébeuf, only to be expelled again. In September 1941, he was accepted at Université Laval where he studied medicine and on July 22, 1943 he married a fellow student, Magdeleine Thérien whom he divorced in 1949.

November 1943, he enrolled in the Canadian army as a medic and received the acceptance in June 1945. He trained in British Columbia and Ontario and after that was sent to Quebec and New Brunswick as a medic. When relieved of duty in 1946, he settled in Rivière-Madeleine, Quebec. His time in Gaspèsie was the inspiration for many of his stories written later. He may have had to leave Rivière-Madeleine because he was denounced from the pulpit as a communist by the local parish priest. In 1947, his father died.

In 1948, he returned to Montréal. In 1949, he moved to Longueuil, Quebec and his first book, L'ogre, was published.