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Date of birth: Place of birth:
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Photo : Archives de l'Université Sainte-Anne |
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After his elementary and
secondary schooling, Léger Comeau enrolled
at the Université Sainte-Anne in Nova Scotia
in 1936. By his own account, he found it difficult
to master French, but he persisted and completed
his studies in French. After obtaining a B.A. in
1940, he went to the Séminaire des Eudistes
in Charlesbourg, Quebec, where he stayed until his
ordination in 1947. The next year, he graduated
summa cum laude in theology from the Angelicum in
Rome. He continued his studies at the
Université de Montréal, where he
obtained a diploma in philosophy and won the
Lieutenant-Governor's Medal in 1952. From 1948 to
1958, he taught at various classical colleges in
Quebec, and in 1958 was put in charge of the
training for future priests at the Séminaire
des Eudistes.
From 1964 to 1970, Father
Comeau was director of the Atlantic Provinces
Interdiocesan Seminary. In 1973, he was appointed
director of continuing education and French
immersion at the Université Sainte-Anne. In
1986, he became Vice Rector in charge of external
relations at Sainte-Anne, a position he occupied
until his retirement in 1993. He then took over
pastoral duties in the parishes of St-Bernard and
Notre-Dame-de-Mont-Carmel, in Concession, until his
death in 1996.
Father Comeau worked hard for
many years to secure the development and
recognition of Acadian culture. Famous both for his
gripping sermons and for his patriotic speeches in
defence of the Acadian people, he brought Acadia to
the awareness of the whole world. He founded the
Halifax French Club in 1965 and the
Fédération acadienne de la
Nouvelle-Écosse in 1957; he was president of
the latter for the first two years of its existence
and again from 1977 to 1982. He was president of
the Société des Acadiens (1978-1988)
and contributed greatly both to the religious life
in his parishes and to such activities as the
Festival acadien de Clare; the
Société historique de la Baie
Sainte-Marie (1991-1996); the Addiction Commission
(1975); the CIFA community radio (1991-1996); the
Conseil des arts de Clare (1983-1994); and the
Université Sainte-Anne's housing agency
(1976-1994).
Father Comeau was one of the
most striking personalities of Acadia and Nova
Scotia. He received more than 50 national and
international awards and decorations: Chevalier of
the Ordre de la Pléiade (1979); member of
the Ordre des francophones d'Amérique
(1980); and the Séraphin-Marion prize from
the Société St-Jean-Baptiste (1986).
The first Acadian to be made, in 1989, a Chevalier
of France's Légion d'Honneur, he was also
made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1988. He
held a number of honorary doctorates: from Pine
Hill Divinity Hall (now the Atlantic School of
Theology) (1972), the Université de Moncton
(1990), St Francis Xavier (1993), and his alma
mater the Université Sainte-Anne
(1997).
The greatest honour he ever
received was the creation in 1988 of the
Léger-Comeau Medal, awarded to exceptional
people by the Société nationale des
Acadiens. He was also deeply touched by the
establishment of the Léger-Comeau
Certificate of Merit, awarded every year by the
Fédération acadienne. Few people are
so honoured in their lifetimes. When Father Comeau
died aged 76, all Acadians mourned.
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