Bertrand Vac

Bertrand Vac was the pen name of Quebec novelist and surgeon Aimé Pelletier (August 20, 1914 – July 23, 2010). Aimé Pelletier, writing as Bertrand Vac, developed a literary career while working for over fifty years at the Verdun General Hospital as a surgeon and, in semi-retirement, as a surgical assistant. His literary activities were initially hidden from his medical colleagues.

Pelletier was born the eighth of ten children to the local surgeon at Saint-Ambroise-de-Kildare, Quebec. The family later relocated to Joliette, Quebec. Pelletier, originally wishing to become an architect, was persuaded to become a doctor by his father. Pelletier graduated from the Laval University medical school in 1939.(Pelletier's obituary at the Union des Écrivaines et Écrivains Québecois states that he graduated from the Université de Montréal medical school, rather than the Université Laval.)

Pelletier volunteered for service during the Second World War, and was with the medical corps both during the war and until 1946. He worked in field hospitals behind the front lines in France, particularly during the Battle of Normandy, when he arrived in France as part of the Normandy Invasion.

Pelletier's pen name was developed in France. After the war, Pelletier chose to study surgery in Paris, where his colleagues preferred to call him "Bernard", rather than "Aimé". Vac was chosen as his literary surname because it represented the Hindu God of Speech.

Pelletier wrote fourteen books during a sixty-year literary career, primarily with publisher Le cercle du livre de France, later known Les Éditions Pierre Tisseyre. He won the Prix du Cercle du livre de France on three occasions. Pelletier is believed to be the first Quebec writer to publish a detective novel (L'assassin dans l'hôpital, 1956). As Bertrand Vac, Pelletier has been the subject of academic commentary and analysis.

Pelletier wrote Louise Genest in 1950 and a satirical story Saint-Pépin, P.Q. in 1955. The themes of adultery in his early works were groundbreaking at that particular time in the history of Quebec literature. Many of his works are particularly referenced to Montreal's Golden Square Mile, where Pelletier lived for over half a century. None of his works have been translated from the original French.

Pelletier died in Montreal; his ashes are interred at his ancestral cemetery, located in Sainte-Mélanie, Quebec.