Pierre Daviault (1899--1964), traducteur, auteur, historien, pédagogue et défenseur de la langue française

Abstract

Pierre Daviault is a household name in the field of translation in Canada. He holds a prominent place thanks to his contribution to the profession itself and to the teaching of professional translation, which he pioneered. He wrote numerous linguistic books to fill a gap in his time---there was no Petit Robert or Robert & Collins in the 1940s. Daviault also developed the very first professional translation course for the University of Ottawa, in the heart of Canada's capital, a bilingual country. Daviault was a published author in other realms of knowledge. His love for the French presence in Canada explains his two biographies of well-known characters of Nouvelle-France. Other works include short stories about famous and less known people of his time and ventures into the literary world in the form of two adventure novels. The entire career of Pierre Daviault spanned from the 1920s to the mid-1960s and revolved around one subject: the French language. Everything he did or created over his long and successful career related, in one way or another, to this passion.