François-Albert Angers
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François-Albert Angers (1909-2003) was an eminent Quebecois economist and defender of the cause of Quebec and the French language.
[edit] Biography
A native of Quebec City, he studied first at the College of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in Montreal, then at the “École des Hautes Études Commerciales” in Montreal where he obtained a degree in Commerce in 1934. He went to Paris to study at the Faculty of Law of Paris. In that same city, he graduated also from Paris Institute of Political Studies (best known as Sciences Po) where, in 1937, he supported a thesis under the direction of André Siegfried.
He spent all his academic career teaching at “l’École des Hautes Études Commerciales” in Montreal, most notably from 1938 to 1974, year when he retired. He also taught at “L’École des Relations industrielles” of the Sherbrooke University. He acted as director of the magazine “L'Actualité économique” and was, since 1949, director of the “Service de la Documentation économique” which became, in 1959, “l’Institut d’Économie appliquée”. He also served as advisor for the Inquiry Board on Constitutional Problems Commission d'enquête on the constitutional problems (Commission Tremblay) from 1953 to 1956, and from 1955 to 1959, as technical director of the Economic Orientation Council of the Chamber of Commerce of the Province of Quebec. From 1970 to 1980, he served as President of the Ludger Duvernay Foundation. He also chaired the Canadian Society of Economic Science, from 1968 to 1971, and the International Centre of Research on Public Enterprises and Cooperatives, from 1975 to 1981. From 1965 to 1972, he was vice-president of the International Congress Commission of the French-speaking economists.
A strong believer of the importance of the cooperative way for the economic development of Quebec, he served as a member of the board of the Consumers Cooperative of Montreal. His action was also imbearing in the nationalist mediums in which he insufflated his passion for Quebec and the French language. He chaired the “Ligue d’Action nationale” from 1955 to 1985 and was director of the magazine “L’Action nationale”, from 1959 to 1968. He held the helm of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal, from 1969 to 1973, and also the “Mouvement Québec français”, from 1972 to 1980. He left to posterity a very imposing scientific production. He spent the last years of his life to the development and the promotion of the great economist Esdras Minville’s works, a man he considered his true mentor.