Aurore Gagnon

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Aurore Gagnon (May 31, 1909 - February 12, 1920), was a victim of child abuse. She died of blood poisoning and general exhaustion, from the many wounds she received from her abusive father Télesphore Gagnon and stepmother, Marie-Anne Houde. Her biological mother, Marie-Anne Caron, was being treated in a hospital for tuberculosis until her death in 1918. The story of l'enfant martyre received great attention in the media and Aurore became an icon of Quebec popular culture.

[edit] Chronology of events

In 1916, in the town of Fortierville, Quebec. Marie-Anne Houde arrived in the Gagnon household to help Télesphore while his wife was in the hospital. On November 6, 1917, Aurore's younger brother named Joseph Gagnon died at the age of two under mysterious circumstances. The following January, Marie-Anne Caron's illness took her life. Only one week after the death of his wife, Télesphore Gagnon married Marie-Anne Houde. In September and October of 1919, Aurore spent time at the "Hôtel-Dieu de Québec" because of an injury to her foot that would not heal. She later died in February of 1920.

For her role in her stepdaughter's death, Marie-Anne Houde received a death sentence, but this was reduced to a term of life because of public pressure (she was pregnant when she received her death sentence). Aurore's father received a life sentence but was released after only 5 years for good behaviour. Houde died of cancer in May 1936, a year after her release from prison.

[edit] Legacy

Two notable Quebec films, La petite Aurore: l'enfant martyre in 1952 and Aurore in 2006, were based on Aurore Gagnon's life and death.

Numerous books have also been published detailing her life.

Less than a year after the events unfolded in the courts in 1920, a first dramatic production was written by Louis Petitjean that would quickly become his most famous.

Aurore remains a popular cultural icon in Quebec, with an almost mythical status.

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