Micheline Legendre

Micheline Legendre was born in Outremont, Quebec, on 18 February 1923, to Jean-Charles Legendre and Yvonne Lafontaine. She grew up with one sister, Raymonde. Legendre attended Collège Jésus-Marie, then the Collège Basile-Moreau. She began university studies at the École de musique Vincent d'Indy, where she studied to be a violinist, planning a career in music. From 1942 to 1945 she trained with violinist Maurice Onderet, who was a soloist in the chamber orchestra in which Legendre was also a member, the Petite symphonie de Montréal. == Puppetry career ==

in Montreal In 1945, the Petite symphonie introduced Legendre to German puppeteer (and former prisoner of war) Albert Wolff, who came to perform Canada's first professional puppet show. as well as with Sue Hastings in New York. Her study with Chesnais and his Comédiens en bois (Wooden actors) was part of a European tour of apprenticeships she undertook beginning in late 1951; she said later of the puppet master's training in technique, "I owe him everything." and Stravinsky's Petrushka in 1958. In 1969 she introduced the first course in puppetry at the Université de Montréal, training students that went on to work for marionnettes troupes L'Illusion and the Théâtre de l'Oeil. It ran for a week and brought eight companies to perform, including Chesnais's Wooden Actors, Ina Von Macaho's marionnettes, Albert Roser, the Czech Marion Theater from Spejbl and Hurvink, as well as Austrian and Polish companies. In total, she created more than 1,170 puppets and gave more than 16,000 performances, == Public life ==

In 1960, Legendre visited China as part of a Canadian delegation that included Pierre Trudeau (later prime minister) and Jacques Hébert. With Trudeau, she also cofounded the journal Cité libre. In 1978 and 1979 she was chair of the Canadian Conference of the Arts and also served on the board of the Montreal Council for the Arts for several years. == Honours ==

Legendre was named a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 1991. The citation noted that "[h]er immense collection of marionnettes constitutes a major contribution to the history of Quebecois theater and international theater in Quebec." UNIMA, the International Puppetry Union, made her an honorary member at its congress in Germany in 2000. == Personal life ==

Legendre died in her home in Outremont, Quebec, on 5 January 2010. == Publications ==