The purpose of the $30,000 prize is to recognize the value and originality of the thought and work of a historian who has distinguished himself or herself through work in history or related disciplines from a historical perspective.
Elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 2012 and recognized as a lecturer by his peers, Pierre Anctil has devoted himself to the history of Jewish immigration to Quebec in the 20th century since the beginning of his career. He has been introducing French-speaking audiences to the historical narrative of Montreal's Jews. Mr. Anctil has been able to explore exhaustively the Yiddish language archives created by the witnesses of the great Eastern European migration wave of the early 20th century. This bold and new approach has given his historical approach a great originality. He has published numerous books and articles on the subject, including the illustrated work St. Lawrence: The Hand of Montreal (2002), Jewish Trajectories in Quebec (2010) and History of the Jews of Quebec, published in 2017 and recounting the history of Quebec Jews over four centuries.
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