Castonguay, Jacques, 1926-2016 : Jacques Castonguay was born in Quebec City in 1926, the second son of journalist Émile Castonguay and Jeanne Gauvin. After completing high school in his hometown, he attended the Séminaire de Québec and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Laval University in 1952. He then studied in Ottawa and Rome at the University of Saint-Thomas Aquinas, where he graduated in 1954 and 1956. Between 1952 and 1956, he studied in Paris and made short study visits to Oxford, Cambridge and Munich. Returning to Canada in 1956, he taught and pursued advanced studies in psychology, earning a doctorate from the Université de Montréal in 1960. He later attended McGill University where he studied administrative sciences.
During the Second World War, from 1943 to 1945, he served with the Royal Canadian Transmission Corps. In 1958, he enlisted again, this time with the Royal Canadian Air Force, first as a reservist and then for nine years with the Regular Force. He served in Ottawa (Uplands), Saint-Hubert, Edmonton (Namao) and Toronto, and twice at the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean. From 1993 to 1998, he was Honorary Colonel of 16 Wing of the Canadian Air Force.
Jacques Castonguay taught at three universities: the Dominican University College of Ottawa from 1956 to 1960, York University in Toronto from 1964 to 1966 and the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean from 1969 to 1970. At the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean, he was successively appointed Director of the Department of Military Psychology and Management (1971-1972), Founding Director of the Department of Administration (1972-1974), Dean of the Faculty of Administrative Sciences (1972-1979), Dean of College Studies (1979-1986) and Rector (1986-1989). It was under his rectorship that the College became a complete university.
Jacques Castonguay has published several books and numerous journal articles. He is the author of the first French-English dictionary of psychology. His interest in military history was reflected in the publication of a dozen volumes on the history of Fort Saint-Jean, the Royal 22e Régiment, the Régiment de la Chaudière, the Voltigeurs de Québec, the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the 5th Regiment of Light Artillery of Canada, the Canadian Forces Base Montreal and the 16 Wing of the Canadian Air Force. He was also interested in the history of Philippe Aubert de Gaspé's family, about which he wrote three books. He prepared a historical report on the United Nations Mission in Rwanda at the request of the Ministry of National Defence in 1995 and 1996, and a study on the Multinational Force for Zaire in 1997.
The Chambre de Commerce du Haut-Richelieu, the historical societies of the Richelieu Valley, the Aubert de Gaspé Corporation, the Montgomery Expedition Memorial Observance and other organizations have awarded him certificates of merit. He was awarded the title of Professor Emeritus and a Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa (1991) by the Royal Military College in Saint-Jean and a Doctor of Law Honoris Causa (1998) by the Royal Military College of Canada (Kingston).
Jacques Castonguay was member of several associations, including President of the Institut Interarmées de Montréal and President of the Institut militaire de Québec in 1994-1995. In addition, he has been a member of the Philippe Aubert de Gaspé Corporation since 1993. He has been a member of the Order of Canada since 1991 and a knight of the Ordre national du Québec since 2008. In 1992, he was awarded the 125th anniversary of Confederation medal and, in 1997, the Gold Medal for military history, awarded by the French Renaissance in Paris. He died in 2016.
