Pierre of Calvet, (1735-1786), born of a French huguenote family, was a wealthy merchant who lived in Quebec, Canada.
He proposed legal and constitutional reforms, multiplied opened letters, memoirs and lawsuit, until he was thrown in prison by governor Haldimand, along with Fleury Mesplet and Valentin Jautard of the Gazette littéraire de Montreal.
Favorable to the American cause during the War of Independence, he passionately defended democratic principles. During the first American invasion of Canada, he received the rebels to his house, including Benjamin Franklin.
As soon as he was freed from prison, he left for London to claim justice. It is there that in 1784 he published his Call to the justice of the State in English and French.
Berthiaume, Pierre, «Exercices spirituels et quiétisme dans Les Confessions du comte de *** de Charles Pinot Duclos», Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, 2001, n° 12, p.
Actes du Ve Colloque des jeunes chercheurs en sociocritique et en analyse du discours et du colloque «Écritures hors-foyer: comment penser la littérature actuelle ?».
Université du Québec à Montréal, vendredi 20 septembre 2002.