André-Piolat (1912-1987)
The family of the late André Piolat (1912-1987), founder and editor of the newspaper Le Soleil de la Colombie, will donate documents and personal objects to École André Piolat, the Francophone school in North Vancouver named after him in 1990.
The official handing-over of the objects and documents will take place on Tuesday, March 10, from 10 to 11 am, in the École André-Piolat library, located at 380 West Kings Road in North Vancouver. The media is invited to attend.
With the collection of personal documents in the library, the students and staff of École André-Piolat will become better acquainted with the work of this pioneer and builder of the Francophone community in British Columbia. The collection includes photo albums relating the personal and professional life of Mr. Piolat, newspaper clippings and original copies of the newspaper Le Soleil de la Colombie. In view of the school’s community outreach, the documents will be available for on-site consultation by the general public.
Born in France in 1912, André Piolat settled in Canada with his family in 1920. He lived many adventures, travelling in Québec, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, France, England and the USA, before settling in Vancouver in 1955 where he discovered Maillardville and the French-Canadian community of British Columbia.
André Piolat was much involved in the Francophone community and, in 1968, founded Le Soleil de Vancouver which became Le Soleil de la Colombie in 1974. He devoted boundless energy to the establishment of the paper; he saw it grow and it continued to be published after his passing. As a pioneer of the Francophone cause, he created the Fondation André-Piolat which grants bursaries to students in the province in order to promote the use of the French language. In 1987, he received from the French Consul, the Medal of the Order of Merit in recognition for his important contribution to the promotion of the French language.
Mr André Piolat and Mr Pierre-Elliot Trudeau in 1969
