Acfas
Encyclopedia
Association francophone pour le savoir (Acfas) is the principal French-language learned society
in Canada
and, particularly, Quebec
.
The Acfas was founded in 1923 as the Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences (French-Canadian Association for the Advancement of Science). Its name was changed in 2001 to the Association francophone pour le savoir. Despite the name change, Acfas retained the acronym by which it has become known.
The association played an important role in building Francophone Quebec's scholarly community, supporting the growth of an intellectual milieu outside the formal boundaries of the Catholic Church. Among its founders were prominent French-Canadian intellectual such as Brother Marie-Victorin
, the father of biology in francophone Quebec, and the radiologist Léo Pariseau. Today Acfas is best known for the scholarly prizes it awards annually and for its yearly conference of French-language learned societies in Canada, which is hosted by a different university each year, usually in Quebec.
Learned society
A learned society is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline/profession, as well a group of disciplines. Membership may be open to all, may require possession of some qualification, or may be an honor conferred by election, as is the case with the oldest learned societies,...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and, particularly, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
The Acfas was founded in 1923 as the Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences (French-Canadian Association for the Advancement of Science). Its name was changed in 2001 to the Association francophone pour le savoir. Despite the name change, Acfas retained the acronym by which it has become known.
The association played an important role in building Francophone Quebec's scholarly community, supporting the growth of an intellectual milieu outside the formal boundaries of the Catholic Church. Among its founders were prominent French-Canadian intellectual such as Brother Marie-Victorin
Marie-Victorin
Brother Marie-Victorin was a De La Salle Christian Brother and botanist in Quebec, Canada, best known as the father of the Jardin botanique de Montréal....
, the father of biology in francophone Quebec, and the radiologist Léo Pariseau. Today Acfas is best known for the scholarly prizes it awards annually and for its yearly conference of French-language learned societies in Canada, which is hosted by a different university each year, usually in Quebec.