Raymond Barbeau was a teacher, essayist, literary critic

Literary criticism

Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...

, political figure and naturopath

Naturopathic medicine

Naturopathy, or Naturopathic Medicine, is a form of alternative medicine based on a belief in vitalism, which posits that a special energy called vital energy or vital force guides bodily processes such as metabolism, reproduction, growth, and adaptation...

. He was one of the early militants of the contemporary independence movement of Quebec

Quebec sovereignty movement

The Quebec sovereignty movement refers to both the political movement and the ideology of values, concepts and ideas that promote the secession of the province of Quebec from the rest of Canada...

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Barbeau was born in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

 in 1930 and earned in 1955 a doctorate from the Université de Paris (La Sorbonne). In 1957, he founded the Alliance laurentienne

Alliance laurentienne

The Alliance laurentienne was a political organization founded by Raymond Barbeau on January 25, 1957. It was an early organization of the contemporary independence movement of Quebec but, unlike the majority of those to come, it adopted somewhat right-wing, even corporatist politics...

, one of the first 20th century organizations in favour of an independent Quebec republic, and founded its official organ called Laurentie. He created the movement Les fils du Québec (French for "The Sons of Quebec") in 1970.

He died in Montreal in 1992.