CYPRIEN TANGUAY. — Canadian priest and historian, born in Québec in 1819, died there in 1902.
He studied at the Québec Seminary; ordained a priest in 1843, he devoted himself for over twenty years to parish ministry, especially in Rimouski, where he founded (1860) a renowned college. He also established the Notre-Dame convent in St-Germain. Meanwhile, he engaged in historical and genealogical research, with particular attention to the period of French colonization in Canada: some essays published in journals and periodicals drew the attention of the government, and in 1867 he was officially tasked with establishing the exact genealogy of the French families settled successively in Canada. TANGUAY was able to publish the *Dictionnaire généalogique des familles canadiennes françaises depuis les origines de la colonie jusqu’à nos jours* (7 vols., 1871–90), which brought him national fame and earned him admission to the Royal Society of Canada, the country’s leading scientific institution. Pope Leo XIII, for his part, conferred upon him a prelatial dignity following the publication of the *Répertoire du clergé canadien par ordre chronologique* (2nd ed., 1893). Monsignor TANGUAY continued his beloved studies until his death, illuminating the history of the Canadian Church without neglecting his apostolate, directed especially toward the educated classes.