Background

Ethnicity: Gilles Vigneault’s ancestors moved to Canada from Poitiers, France during the 17th century.

Gilles Vigneault was born on October 27, 1928, in Natashquan, Quebec, Canada. He is a son of Placid Joseph William Vigneault, a fisherman, school commissioner, and mayor, and Marie Appolline Adélaïde Vigneault (maiden name Landry).

Education

Gilles Vigneault studied at the seminary school of Rimouski in his native Natashquan from 1942 to 1950. Then, he entered the literature program of Laval University in Quebec where he fell profoundly under the influence of medieval French chansons, as well as that of the French Symbolist poets. He graduated in 1953 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Vigneault has also received three honorary degrees, from the Trent University, the Quebec University at Rimouski, and from the University of Moncton.

Career

The start of Gilles Vigneault’s career was related to academics not to music. After graduating from college in 1953, he worked as an algebra teacher in two different schools, at a military school in Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, Quebec, Canada, and at the École de Technologie Supérieure in Montreal. He served as a bookstore clerk and publicist as well.

During the 1950s, Vigneault wrote monologues for local television and also taught literature at his alma mater, Laval University. He made his way into the theatrical world of Quebec, founding an award-winning theatrical troupe, ‘Troupe des Treize’, in 1956. Three years later, the author became a publisher when he established what was to be a leading Quebecois publishing house, Les Editions de l’Arc, and a leading poetry magazine of the Quebec literary renaissance, Emourie. That same year, Les Editions published Vigneault’s first volume of poetry, Etraves, which, containing over a hundred poems, remains his most substantial collection.

In the early 1960s, Gilles Vigneault turned to the short tale, collecting forty-one examples of that form in 1960’s ‘Contes sur la pointe des pieds’ (‘Tales on Tiptoe’), a bilingual edition which would be published in 1972 with the bilingual title ‘Tales sur la pointe des pieds’. In the early 1960s, he also began performing his first songs at a boite-à-chanson, or coffeehouse, that he had created himself.

The first record album of his songs was issued in 1962, with an eponymous title, and many more were to follow over the years as Vigneault came to emblematize the great French tradition of the chanteur for his native province. His books of the 1960s were, in many cases, collections of his song lyrics; however, a 1964 volume of poetry, Balises, shared many of the themes of his songs, such as love of women and love of his native region.

Vigneault continued to expand his musical career throughout the next decades. The song ‘Mon Pays’ (‘My Country’) and ‘Gens du Pays’ (Country People) were among his triumphs of the time. In 1967, the songwriter published an important collection of song lyrics, ‘Les gens de mon pays’ (People of my Country), which contained the latter song.

Vigneault, considered a remarkably attractive performer, gave a major concert in Paris in 1966 and toured in Europe and North America through 1973. He performed before a crowd of 150,000 at the Plains of Abraham in Quebec and before 300,000 at the Mont Royal (Montreal) concert for the feast day of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, the patron saint of the province. He also continued to issue volumes of his song lyrics, as well as books of stories and other texts. It was during this period that he was filmed by the National Film Board of Canada in 1972.

Volumes of lyrics, poems, and stories continued to flow during the subsequent years. During the 1980s, Vigneault made a notable foray into children’s literature and song with three books that were accompanied by record albums, ‘Les Quatres Saisons de Piquot’, ‘Quelques pas dans l’univers d'Eva’, and ‘Comptine pour endormir l'enfant qui ne veut rien savior’ full of the images of birds, trees, air, and space.

Gilles Vigneault has given lots of concerts and has performed in Quebec, Paris, and elsewhere in North America and Europe.

From 2015 to 2018, the singer-songwriter resumed as an educator and taught classes on writing organized by Professional Society of Authors and Composers of Quebec (Société professionnelle des auteurs et compositeurs du Québec). The recent publication of Vigneault’s poetry collection, ‘Le Chemin montant’ (The Way Up) was issued in 2018 by Éditions du Boréal.

Achievements

• Gilles Vigneault is considered as one of the most prominent musicians and authors of Canada.
  
  In 1965, his song ‘Mon Pays’ (‘My Country’) won first prize at an international song festival in Poland. The song, with its deeply felt refrain, was to be the most popular song in Quebec for years to come until it was displaced in 1976 by another song of Vigneault’s, ‘Gens du Pays’ (‘Country People), named by many the unofficial anthem of Quebec.
  
  In addition to the rich legacy of song lyrics and performances, poetry and prose collections, and play scripts, Vigneault has founded an award-winning theatrical troupe, ‘Troupe des Treize’ and a leading Quebecois publishing house, Les Editions de l’Arc. He was also a founder of the first coffeehouse-club in Quebec City in the early 1960s.
  
  Gilles Vigneault’s contributions to the Canadian culture was marked by many awards and prizes, including Governor General's Award, Charles Cros Academy Grand Prix du Disque, Molson Prize, and Prix Denise-Pelletier. He was also a recipient of the Legion of Honor, the Order of Arts and Letters, and the National Order of Quebec.
  
  In 2006, Vigneault was included in the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Works

More photos

• audio

  • A Gift for Sophie

    (In this touching, poetic story set by the seaside, Old Ma...)

    2013

• book

  • Tales sur la Pointe des Pieds 1972

• music

  • Sunday in Kyoto

    (The title track 'Sunday in Kyoto' tells the story of a Ca...)

    2004

Politics

Gilles Vigneault is a Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist.

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• "He is the most gifted poet in Canada since Emile Nelligan, whether in English or French." Louis Dudek, poet and publisher

Connections

Gilles Vigneault married Rachel Cloutier in 1955. The family produced seven children named Michel, Louis, François, Pascale, Guillaume, Jessica, and Benjamin.

François is a poet and a lyricist, Guillaume is a novelist, Jessica is a pianist and a singer, and Benjamin is a percussionist.

Father:

Placid Joseph William

Mother:

Marie Appoline Adélaide

Wife:

Rachel Cloutier

Son:

François Vigneault

Son:

Gillaume Vigneault

Daughter:

Jessica Vigneault

Son:

Benjamin Vigneault

Son:

Michel Vigneault

Son:

Louis Vigneault

Son:

Pascale Vigneault

References

• Gilles Vigneault's Official Website