Hébert, Anne (1916–2000)

French-Canadian poet and prose writer. Name variations: Anne Hebert. Pronunciation: Hay-BARE. Born Aug 1, 1916, at Sainte-Catherine-de-Fossambault, Quebec, Canada; died in Montreal, Jan 22, 2000; dau. of Maurice Hébert (writer and government official) and Marguerite Marie Taché; attended Collège Notre-Dame-de Bellevue and Collège Mérici in Quebec.

One of French-Canada's most distinguished writers, who has been praised for her psychological insight as well as her expression of growing discontent of Quebec's French-speaking population under English rule, published 1st poems and stories (1939); endured death of cousin, poet Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau (1943); published short stories Le Torrent (1950), her most significant early work of prose; began work as scriptwriter for Canadian National Film Board (1953); published poems, Le Tombeau des Rois (1953), considered to be her crowning achievement as a writer of verse; began residence in Paris (1954); published 1st novel Les Chambres de bois (The Silent Rooms, 1958); her early prose works dealt at 1st gingerly, then more specifically, with a critique of French-Canadian society, notably prevailing attitudes among upper-middle class in her native Quebec; published poems, Mystère de la parole (Mystery of the Verb, 1960); elected to Royal Society of Canada (1960); settled permanently in Paris (1965). Won Molson Prize (1967); received Prix des Libraires de France for her novel Kamouraska (1970); won Académie française prize for novel Les Enfants du sabbat (1976); received Prix Fémina (1982).

See also Delbert W. Russell, Anne Hébert (Twayne, 1983); and Women in World History.