Illustrious visitors' commentaries on Quebec

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Throughout history, Quebec received the visit of individuals who were already or would later become famous on the international scene. Luckily for us, some of those illustrious personages took notes during their travel and the conservation of these makes it possible for us today to acquaint ourselves with their impressions, feelings and opinions of our country and our people at various moments in history.

Pehr Kalm, 1749

Pehr Kalm, Swedish naturalist


Bougainville, 1757

Louis-Antoine, comte de Bougainville

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, military commander, first French navigator to accomplish a circumnavigation, served under General Montcalm during the War of Conquest of Canada.



Alexis de Tocqueville, 1831

Alexis de Tocqueville, political thinker and historian

Biography in Wikipedia: Alexis de Tocqueville

The famous author of Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville left us some interesting notes of his 1831 visit in the province of Lower Canada, today the province of Québec.


Charles Dickens, 1842

Charles Dickens, writer

Charles Dickens, the celebrated author of Oliver Twist (1839), A Christmas Carol (1843) and A tale of two cities visited the North American continent in 1842. Chapter 15 of his notes relate his visit of what were then Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Québec). His notes were first published around 1850.


Henry David Thoreau, 1853

Henry David Thoreau, American naturalist and philosopher

American naturalist and philosopher, famous author of Civil Disobedience, Henry David Thoreau payed himself a little trip to Lower Canada in 1853. His comments on the country and its population are most interesting and often funny.


Charles de Gaulle, 1967

Charles de Gaulle, General of the Free French Forces, president of France



See also