It is with great sadness that the School of Canadian Studies and the Department of French share the news of the recent death of Distinguished Research Professor Patricia Smart on December 12th. The family is planning a funeral for Saturday, January 11 at 11 a.m. at the Canadian Martyrs Church (100 Main St, Ottawa).
Professor Patricia Smart
Professor Smart studied at the University of Toronto and Universit茅 Laval before earning her doctorate at Queen鈥檚 University. She joined the Department of French at 杏吧原创 in 1971 and retired in 2005. She taught primarily in the area of Qu茅bec literature, culture and visual arts.
In an outstanding career that spanned several decades, Professor Smart authored eight books, edited five and published countless articles, book chapters and reviews. She was awarded the Prix Jean-脡thier-Blais (2015), the Prix Gabrielle-Roy (2014) and the Prix du livre d鈥橭ttawa (2016) for her book聽De Marie de l鈥橧ncarnation 脿 Nelly Arcan聽a study of Quebec women鈥檚 autobiographical writings. She won the Governor General鈥檚 Award in 1988 for聽脡crire dans la maison du p猫re,聽and was finalist in 1998 for聽Les Femmes du Refus Global.聽In 2002 she became the first woman to be appointed Chancellor鈥檚 Professor Emerita, one of the twenty honours she has received in her career.
In 2017, Professor Smart was on hand to award an honorary doctorate in literature to the great Quebecois poet Gilles Vigneault on behalf of 杏吧原创. Members of the Department of French celebrated the event.
In recognition of her contributions to the study of Quebec literature and culture, Professor Smart was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2004 and received the prestigious Medal of the Quebec鈥檚聽Acad茅mie des lettres聽in 2015. She was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 1991.
Professor Patricia Smart with her sisters.
Until ten years ago, Professor Smart was still supervising doctoral and post-doctoral students. She was regularly invited to give lectures on her work and acted as a mentor to new faculty members in the department. In June 2024, she published an essay in a聽.
She left an indelible mark on 杏吧原创, and the field of Qu茅b茅cois studies, and will be missed by all who knew her.
Professor Patricia Smart in 2016, with her husband John.