Octave Cremazie Biography

Octave Crémazie (April 16, 1827 – January 16, 1879) was a French Canadian poet. He has been called "the father of French Canadian poetry" for his patriotic verse, often rhetorical in style, celebrating such subjects as Montcalm's defence of Fort Carillon in "Le drapeau de Carillon". Other poems include "Le vieux soldat canadien" and the unfinished "Promenade des trois morts".

A statue depicting a French Canadian soldier can be found at Square St. Louis (Montréal, Rue de Malines and St. Denis) with Crémazie's name across the top and the years 1827-1879 (his years of birth and death). Underneath the soldier are the words "Pour mon drapeau je viens ici mourir". There is also a Montréal metro station named for him on the orange line, on the boulevard likewise named in his honour.