Albéric Bourgeois

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Albéric Bourgeois (November 29, 1876 – November 17, 1962) was a Canadian cartoonist and artist. He is known for creating Canada’s first continuing comic strip to use speech balloons. Born in Montreal, he studied fine arts there until 1899 and then studied in Boston, where he worked for The Boston Post and drew The Education of Annie in 1902. He returned to Montréal in 1903 and joined La Patrie, where he did political cartoons and created Les Aventures de Timothée, one of the first ongoing Quebecois comics.

Bourgeois spent about 25 years at La Presse, creating Les Aventures de Toinon (1905–1908) and Les Fables du Parc Lafontaine (1906–1908). In February 1905 he took over Le Père Ladébauche from Joseph Charlebois; this became the most famous Quebec comic strip of the era, and Bourgeois continued it until his retirement in 1957, also adapting Ladébauche for the theatre. He also created the humorous radio play Joson Josette.

Bourgeois died on November 17, 1962 and is buried at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal. In 2005 he was inducted as part of the first group of cartoonists into the Canadian Cartoonist Hall of Fame.