Pierre Trottier was born in Montreal, the son of Louis Trottier, a businessman, and Marie-Rose Lalumière Trottier. He studied law at the University of Montreal, from which he graduated in 1945. He married Barbara Theis in 1952. They have three children: Anne-Hélène, Maxime, and Jean-Philippe. In 1949 he went to work for the Department of External Affairs, Ottawa. He was posted at the Canadian Embassy in Moscow (1951-1954), in Djakarta, Indonesia (1956-1957), in London (1957-1961), and as cultural counselor in Paris (1964-1968). After another period in Moscow (1970-1973), he was appointed ambassador to Peru (1973-1979). In 1979 he became the Canadian ambassador to UNESCO in Paris.

Encouraging an attitude of both detachment from and attachment to the home country and affording opportunities for prolonged indepth contact with different societies and cultures, Trottier's diplomatic career seems to have fostered his gifts as a poet and essayist. Although...