As painter, architect, writer, editor, and teacher, Napoléon Bourassa was an important figure in French-Canadian society in the second half of the nineteenth century. Today his many accomplishments are often forgotten by those who see him only as a link between his father-in-law, the political leader Louis-Joseph Papineau, and youngest son, the editor and political leader Henri Bourassa.

Napoléon Bourassa was the fifth child of a prosperous farmer, François Bourassa, and his wife, Geneviève Patenaude Bourassa. Born in the village of L'Acadie, Lower Canada (Quebec), he was educated at the Collège de Montréal. In the course of his studies he became interested in art and literature. However, to please his parents, on graduation he began law studies. After several years he abandoned law in favor of art, which he studied under Théophile Hamel. From...