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Léon Gérin, lawyer, farmer, federal civil servant, sociologist (born 17 May 1863 in Quebec City; died 15 January 1951 in Montreal, QC). The founder of empirical social sciences in French Canada, Gérin had an outstanding reputation because of his numerous well-documented studies of Quebec's rural society.
Léon Gérin
After graduation from law school at Université de Montréal in 1885, Léon Gérin went to Paris, where he registered at the Museum of Natural History. After meeting Edmond Demolins and the Reverend de Tourville, both disciples of Frédéric Le Play, Gérin left the museum and spent six 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 a prestigious and prolific writer through numerous and meticulous publications about rural Quebec. He became a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (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.
