Louis Hémon (12 October 1880 - 8 July 1913), was a francophone writer best known for his novel Maria Chapdelaine.
He was born in Brest, France. After studies in Paris, he moved to the United Kingdom and had occasional writings published. In 1911, he moved to Canada, initially at Montreal. He would write Maria Chapdelaine during his time working at a farm in the Lac Saint-Jean region. He died when he was struck by a train and killed in in Chapleau, Ontario in 1913, and never saw the widespread publication of his landmark novel.
Since his death, Maria Chapdelaine was translated into 20 languages while other novels were published posthumously.
Hémon had one daughter, Lydia-Kathleen, during a relationship in England with Lydia O'Kelly.