Leacock, Stephen Butler (1869–1944)

Canadian political scientist, historian, and humorist. His humour has survived his often rather conservative political writings. His butts include the urban plutocracy, especially in the parodies of Frenzied Fictions (1918), and popular fiction, as well as human folly generally. His other humorous works include Literary Lapses (1910) and the controversial because recognizable Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912).

Born in Hampshire, England, Leacock lived in Canada from 1876 and studied at Toronto University. He was head of the department of economics and political science at McGill University, Montréal 1908–36. His humorous works include Nonsense Novels (1911), Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich (1914), and Humour and Humanity (1937). He also published studies of Mark Twain (1932) and Charles Dickens (1933). His autobiography, The Boy I Life Behind Me, was published in 1947.