Frédéric Charles Joseph Marius Barbeau was Canada's pioneer anthropologist and folklorist. In an age of increasing specialization he ranged over the whole field of anthropology and folklore, collecting, studying, and describing Indian myths, ceremonials, language, music, arts, and culture; French-Canadian folktales, songs, art, games, handicrafts, and architecture; and even some Anglo-Canadian songs. A prolific writer and completely bilingual, he published some fifty major books, as many more pamphlets and monographs, and some seven hundred articles in over a hundred different periodicals ranging from scientific journals to popular magazines and daily papers.

The son of Charles Barbeau, a horse dealer, and Marie Virginie Morency, Barbeau was born in Sainte-Marie-de-la-Beauce, Quebec, where he received his early education. He went on to earn a B.A. at the College of Sainte-Anne-de-la Pocatière in 1903, then studied law at Laval University. He was admitted to the bar...