Gustave Lanctot
Encyclopedia
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, FRSC
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
, also spelled Gustave Lanctôt, (5 July 1883 – 2 February 1975) was a Canadian
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...
historian and archivist
Archivist
An archivist is a professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value. The information maintained by an archivist can be any form of media...
.
Born in Saint-Constant
Saint-Constant, Quebec
Saint-Constant is an off-island suburb of Montreal in the Roussillon Regional County Municipality of southwestern Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 23,957.-Population:Population trend-Language:...
, 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....
, he studied law at Université de Montréal
Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...
and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1907. A Rhodes Scholar, he studied political science and history from 1909 to 1911 while at Oxford University. He was also a member of the Oxford Canadian Ice Hockey Team. In 1912, he joined the National Archives of Canada. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force
Canadian Expeditionary Force
The Canadian Expeditionary Force was the designation of the field force created by Canada for service overseas in the First World War. Units of the C.E.F. were divided into field formation in France, where they were organized first into separate divisions and later joined together into a single...
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After the war, he received a Ph.D. from the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
and later returned to the National Archives Dominion Archivist eventually becoming Dominion Archivist from 1937 to 1948. He also taught at the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
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A historian, he wrote many books including L'Administration de la Nouvelle-France (1929), Le Canada d'hier et d'aujourd'hui (1934), Montréal au temps de la Nouvelle-France, 1642-1760 (1942), Trois ans de guerre, 1939-1942 (1943), L'Oeuvre de la France en Amérique du Nord (1951), Histoire du Canada (winner of the 1963 Governor General's Award for French language non-fiction
Governor General's Award for French language non-fiction
This is a list of recipients of the Governor General's Award for French-language non-fiction, created in 1959.-1960s:*1960: Paul Toupin, *1961: Jean Le Moyne, Convergences*1962: Gilles Marcotte, *1963: Gustave Lanctot, ...
), Le Canada et la Révolution américaine (1965) et Montréal sous Maisonneuve, 1947-1965 (1966). He also was a historical advisor on eight Canadian films produced from 1961 to 1964.
He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Royal Society of Canada
The Royal Society of Canada , may also operate under the more descriptive name RSC: The Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada , is the oldest association of scientists and scholars in Canada...
in 1926, was awarded the J. B. Tyrrell Historical Medal
J. B. Tyrrell Historical Medal
The J.B. Tyrrell Historical Medal is an award of the Royal Society of Canada "for outstanding work in the history of Canada." It is named in honour of Joseph Burr Tyrrell and is awarded every two years if there is a suitable candidate. The award consists of a gold plated silver...
, and was its president from 1948 to 1949. On July 6, 1967, he was one of the first people to be made an Officer of the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(then called a Service Medal). The citation read "Renowned historian whose "Histoire du Canada" marks the culmination of a life devoted to knowledge of Canada's past". He also was made a Knight of the Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
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Order of Canada medal auction
In late 2006 and early 2007, Lanctot made the news concerning his Order of Canada medal which was put up for auction on eBayEBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
. It was later removed since the auction is against eBay rules. However, the auction appeared to proceed via e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
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