Quesnel, Joseph

Joseph Quesnel (1749-1809) was composer, playwright, sailor and ship's captain, and author. Born in Saint-Malo, France, he was captured by the English in 1779 while attempting to deliver arms to colonial forces in New York. He was sent to Canada, where he met and married a Canadian woman in 1780. Much of his writing appears to have been in reaction to what he perceived a cultural wasteland in both English and French Canada.