Wallot, Jean-Pierre, 1935-2010 : Jean-Pierre Wallot was born in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield in 1935. He obtained his bachelor's degree from the Université de Montréal in 1954, and his arts and master's degrees in 1957. In 1965, the same university awarded him a doctorate in history for his thesis entitled "Le Bas-Canada sous l'administration de Craig (1807-1811)."
From 1954 to 1960, he was a journalist for Le Progrès de Valleyfield newspaper. Starting in 1961, he took up a career in academia, with the exception of 1966-1969, when he was a historian at the National Museum of Man (later the Canadian Museum of History). He was a professor of history at the Université de Montréal, the University of Toronto, Sir George Williams University (Concordia University) and the University of Ottawa. He also taught at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Université Laval. He was the associate director of studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris on several occasions from 1975 to 1994.
At the Université de Montréal, he was the director of the history department from 1973 to 1975, vice-dean of the faculty of arts and sciences from 1975 to 1982, and then vice-president from 1982 to 1985. He held the position of National Archivist (National Archives of Canada) from 1985 to 1997 and, beginning in 1997, was a visiting professor in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ottawa. He led the University of Ottawa's Centre de recherche en civilisation canadienne-française (CRCCF) during 2000-2006.
A historian specializing in the 1760-1850 period, and recognized both nationally and internationally, Mr. Wallot published several books, both individually and in collaboration with others, and dozens of articles and chapters in scientific publications, as well as popular and professional articles. He gave over 200 presentations and speeches to learned societies and professional organizations.
Among Mr. Wallot's many awards and honours, he was elected a member of the Royal Society of Canada in 1978, received its Tyrrell Medal in 1982 and was elected the society's president in 1997. He was also elected as a member of the Académie des lettres du Québec. He became an Officer of the Order of the Arts and Letters of the French Republic in 1987 and an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991. He received honorary doctorates from the Université de Rennes 2 - Haute Bretagne in 1987 and from the University of Ottawa in 1996.
A member of several associations, Jean-Pierre Wallot was director (1970-1983) and president (1973-1977) of the Institut d'histoire de l'Amérique française, director of the Canadian Historical Association (1970-1973), a member of the National Archives Evaluation Committee (1974-1985), a member of the Royal Society of Canada from 1978 until his death, and its president (1997-2005), and a director of the Fondation Lionel-Groulx from 1981 to 2005. He was also the founding president of the Canadian Council of Archives (1985-1986) and a member of the executive of the International Council on Archives (1986-1996). He also served as chair of the International Advisory Committee for UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme (1993-1998).
Mr. Wallot died in 2010.
