Chapter: Making Your Mark

Gabrielle Roy Medals Gr 8 1924 & posthumous 1991

"The awards began in grade 8"
Gabrielle Roy medals: MB French language Excellence (8th Grade) & 1991 international Order of La Pléiade (body of work-posthumous) Grade 8 MB French Excellence

Story

Gabrielle Roy is one of the most important Francophone writers and one of the most influential Canadian authors, receiving the highest literary awards throughout her life, with recognition starting in grade school and continuing after her death in 1983.

Roy attended the Académie St-Joseph, a private school for girls run by the Sisters of the Holy Names. In 1924, when Roy was in eighth grade, she placed first in the in the annual "concours de français" (French language competition) held in the schools of French communities in Manitoba. She was given this Medal of Excellence by the Association d’Éducation des Canadiens-Françaisdu Manitoba (AECFM) - at a time when teaching French in schools was illegal.

In 1991, the medal of the Order of La Pléiade, an international Francophone organization, was awarded posthumously to Gabrielle Roy, in recognition of her body of work and contribution to French-language literature.