Jean-Marie-Raphaël Le Jeune (born Jean-Marie; 12 April 1855 – 21 November 1930) was a Canadian Roman Catholic priest, linguist, author, and newspaper publisher. [1]
Born in Pleyber-Christ, France, Le Jeune entered an Oblate seminary in Nancy, France, in 1873 and took his vows on 12 December 1875. [1] He volunteered for missionary service and in 1879 was sent to New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. [1] Under the supervision of Bishop Paul Durieu, Le Jeune studied Chinook Jargon, a pidgin of Chinookan, Nootkan, French, and English. [1] He moved on to Fraser Canyon, where he learned more native languages, and then to St. Mary's mission in the Lower Fraser Valley. [1]
Over the next years Le Jeune traveled throughout the Kamloops region proselytizing to the native communities. [1] In 1891 he became rector of St. Joseph's Church on the Kamloops Reserve and in 1893 he became the superior of St. Louis's Mission, a post he held until 1929. [1]
By his own account, Le Jeune spoke more than twenty native languages. [1] In 1890 he adapted Duployan shorthand to Chinook Jargon. [1] [2] The system was widely adopted among the native community and in 1891 Le Jeune launched a newspaper written in English and Chinook Jargon called the Kamloops Wawa. [1] Le Jeune wrote a number of pamphlets about native languages such as Practical Chinook vocabulary (1886), Prayers in the Okanagan language (1893), Polyglott manual of prayers (1896, contributor), and Chinook rudiments (1924). [1]
Le Jeune died in 1930 at New Westminster and is buried at Mission. [1] Lac Le Jeune, near Logan Lake, bears his name. [3]