Léon Gérin

Gérin, Léon

Léon Gérin, lawyer, farmer, federal civil servant, sociologist (b at Québec C 17 May 1863; d at Montréal 15 Jan 1951). The founder of empirical SOCIAL SCIENCES in French Canada, Gérin had an outstanding reputation because of his numerous well-documented studies of Québec's rural society. After graduation from law school at U de M (1885), Gérin went to Paris, where he registered at the Museum of Natural History. After meeting Edmond Demolins and the Rev de Tourville, both disciples of Frédéric Le Play, Gérin left the museum and spent 6 months at the École de science sociale. Returning to Canada in 1887, Gérin bought a farm and joined the Ottawa civil service. He soon became, through numerous and meticulous publications about rural Québec, a prestigious and prolific writer. He became a fellow of the RSC in 1898 and president of the French section in 1900. He was elected RSC president in 1933 and was awarded the Lorne Pierce Medal in 1941.