Anselme Chiasson

1911-2004

Father Anselme Chiasson was born in Chéticamp, Nova Scotia on 3 January 1911. Father Anselme spent his childhood in Petit-Étang, a small village in the parish of Chéticamp.  After the death of his mother in 1925 when he was only 14 years old, Father Anselme moved to his maternal grandparents to be able to continue his studies at the convent of Chéticamp. In 1927 at the age of 16, he attended Capuchin College in Ottawa. He took his religious vows in 1932 and in 1938 he was ordained a Capuchin priest. From 1938 to 1946, he taught theology at the Chapelle de la Reparation in Pointe-aux-Trembles, Montreal. It was during this time that he published the first two volumes of Chansons d’Acadie with his cousin, Father Daniel Boudreau. From 1946 to 1949, he was superior at Cacouna, near Rivière-du-Loup. From 1949 to 1958, he was pastor of the parish of Saint-François d'Assise in Ottawa. In 1958, he returned to Acadia to found and direct a Juniorate. Temporarily settled in Bathurst, he moved to Moncton in 1959.  In 1960, in collaboration with Father Clément Cormier and Emery LeBlanc, he founded the Société historique acadienne. He became president in 1962 and from 1964 he took care of the publication of the Cahiers de la Société where he increased the number of publications from 1 to 4 per year. In 1961, he published the book Chéticamp: histoire et traditions populaires. The book won several prizes, including the Champlain Prize in 1962. To publish the book, Father Anselme created his own publishing house, Les Éditions des aboiteaux, the first Acadian publishing house. Between 1960 and 1963, Father Anselme carried out folk surveys in the Magdalen Islands for the Museum of Man in Ottawa. In 1965, he became an archivist at the Université de Moncton and thus assisted in the creation of the Center d'études acadiennes in 1968. During these years, he published L'Île de Shippagan: anecdotes, tours et legends, written by Francis Savoie in 1967; Légendes des Îles de la Madeleine in 1969 and a fourth volume of Chansons d’Acadie the same year (the third was published in 1947). Father Anselme published a history of New Brunswick in 1970 and became director of the Center d'études acadiennes from 1974 to 1976. He received two honorary doctorates: one in 1976 from the Université de Moncton and the other in 1978 from the Université Sainte-Anne, in addition to being named a member of the Order of Canada in 1977. He took part in a multitude of conferences and colloquia, recorded series of radio programs on the folklore and history of Acadia, collaborated on a book on the history of Acadia in 1976 and published a fifth volume of Chansons d'Acadie in 1979 (he eventually published eleven in all). Finally, he was responsible for the publication by the Center d'études acadiennes of a general inventory of documentary sources on the Acadians in 1975. During the 1980s, he published two other books on the Magdalen Islands, one on material and social life in 1981 and a collection of folk songs in 1983. He was promoted to Officer of the Order of Academic Palms for services rendered to French culture. The rest of the 1980s was spent writing books in collaboration with various authors, including the one on the "hooked" carpets of Chéticamp, written in 1985 with Annie-Rose Deveau. In 1988, Father Anselme celebrated his 50th anniversary of priesthood. During the 1990s, he published seven books. He first published a monograph on the parish of Saint-François d'Assise and collaborated on another monograph on Restigouche in 1990. In 1992, he published a collection of stories from the Magdalen Islands. In 1994, he published another collection of stories, this time from Chéticamp. In 1995 he published the memoirs of his uncle Anselme Boudreau who died in 1991 at the age of 101. In 1996, he published another collection of stories from the Magdalen Islands. Finally, he ended the decade by publishing a book on the Acadian singer Anna Malenfant in 1999. During the 1990s, he received several awards and decorations, including the title of honorary president for life of the Société historique acadienne. In 1999, during the Sommet de la Francophonie held in Moncton, he received from the President of the French Republic, Jacques Chirac, the title of "Chevalier de l'Ordre national du merit". In 2001, the Acadian artistic community honored him with an honorary Éloize award. In 2002, he was named "Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Pléïade". In 2002, he left Moncton to go to the Chapel of Reparation where he died on 25 April 2004 at the age of 93.

Predominant New Brunswick Residences:

Moncton

Archival Material

• Fonds Anselme-Chiasson
  ⌄
  Location

  Centre d'études acadiennes Anselme-Chiasson

  Website/Catalogue Record

  View Archival Record

  Retrieval Number

  213

  Date Range of Material

  1788-2003

  Extent

  3.5 m of textual records, approx. 759 photographs and other material

  Scope and Content Note

  The Anselme-Chiasson collection mainly attests to his interest in Acadian history, his involvement in various causes in Acadian society, his works, and his participation in the development of Acadian culture. The fonds consists of ten series: (a) personal papers; (b) writings; (c) lecture notes;  (d) books; (e) correspondence - individuals; (f) correspondence - institutions; (g) general correspondence; (h) speech; (i) sermons and (j) thematic files (this series makes up the bulk of the fonds). Fonds consists of textual documents and typescripts, as well as printed matter. Includes photographs, greeting cards, postcards, drawings, mortuary cards, business or visiting cards, posters, architectural plans and geographical maps.