PANNETON, PHILIPPE

born April 30, 1895, Trois-Rivires, Que., Can. died Dec. 29, 1960, Lisbon, Port. pseudonym Ringuet French-Canadian novelist whose best-known works present the individual caught in the transition from primitive rural to modern urban life. Panneton practiced medicine in Montreal and taught medicine at the University of Montreal. He was a cofounder of the French-Canadian Academy. From 1956 until his death, Panneton served as Canadian ambassador to Portugal. Trente arpents (1938; Thirty Acres), Panneton's major work, deals with the plight of the small French-Canadian farmer forced by the economic and social upheavals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries into migration to the city. In other novels, such as Fausse monnaie (1947; False Money) and Le Poids du jour (1948; The Heaviness of the Day), he continued his examination of the lives of displaced peasants. He also published a volume of short stories and two historical sketches.