The historian Frédéric Bastien, who was notably a candidate for the leadership of the Parti Québécois (PQ), has died.
The announcement was made by one of his collaborators and friends on his Facebook page on Tuesday evening.
Frédéric Bastien was a history professor at Dawson College in Montreal.
The Journal of Montreal, where he kept a column, indicated that his death, at the age of 53, was confirmed in the evening by his spouse Marie-Ève Lépine. The couple have three children aged 11, 13 and 15.
Holder of a doctorate in history and international politics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Mr. Bastien is the author of several books, including The Battle of London who received the Richard-Arès prize in 2013.
He finished fourth in the 2020 PQ leadership race against Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, Sylvain Gaudreault and Guy Nantel.
His former adversaries reacted quickly to the announcement of his death.
“Frédéric was a lifelong activist who gave a large part of his life to the cause of Quebec. He is survived by his wife and three children. My thoughts are with them and the Parti Québécois offers them our full support,” PQ leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon wrote on Twitter.
Comedian Guy Nantel said he was in shock. “We talked many times during the PQ leadership race. Discussions often full-bodied, but always very rewarding. A whole man with a quick mind entirely devoted to Quebec, ”he testified in a tweet.
Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet also offered his sympathies on Twitter. “I don’t know what to say. I think of his relatives. Sadness. Want it or not, I’m thinking of all of us. I think of Don Quixote who was going to break down the mills of hypocrisy for Quebec, his nation. Without fear. »
Mr. Bastien had also received the Patriot of the Year 2013 prize from the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society as well as the Condorcet-Dessaulles prize from the Mouvement laïque québécois in 2021.