Alphonse Desjardins (politician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alphonse Desjardins
22nd Mayor of Montreal
In office
1893–1894
Preceded byJames McShane
Succeeded byJoseph-Octave Villeneuve
Member of the Canadian Parliament
for Hochelaga
In office
1874–1892
Preceded byLouis Beaubien
Succeeded bySéverin Lachapelle
Senator for De Lorimier, Quebec
In office
1892–1896
Appointed byJohn Abbott
Preceded byAlexandre Lacoste
Succeeded byFrançois Béchard
Minister of Militia and Defence
In office
15 January 1896 – 27 April 1896
Prime MinisterMackenzie Bowell
Preceded byMackenzie Bowell
Succeeded byDavid Tisdale
Personal details
Born(1841-05-06)6 May 1841
Terrebonne, Province of Canada
Died4 June 1912(1912-06-04) (aged 71)
Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada
Professionbusinessman, journalist, lawyer

Alphonse Desjardins, PC (6 May 1841 – 4 June 1912) was born in Terrebonne, Canada East, and was mayor of Montreal from 1893 to 1894 and later a Canadian cabinet minister. He married Virginie Paré in 1864 and remarried Hortense Barsalou in 1880.

He was a lawyer, journalist, businessman and politician. He owned a tile factory and participated in the founding of the Banque Jacques-Cartier, which later became part of the National Bank of Canada. He represented the riding of Hochelaga in the House of Commons for 18 years, serving as a cabinet minister and Minister of Militia and Defence for a few months at the end of the Mackenzie Bowell government and then the short-lived Tupper government in 1896. He was named a senator in 1892. He became mayor of Montreal from 1893–1894. For a time he held all three posts (member of the House of Commons, Senator, mayor) simultaneously.

In 1872, he was created a Knight of the Order of Pius IX in acknowledgment of his services to the Catholic Church.

Electoral record[edit]

1891 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alphonse Desjardins 5,266 58.05 +6.20
Liberal Joseph Lanctot 3,805 41.95 -6.20
Total valid votes 9,071 100.00
1887 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party Candidate Votes %
Independent Conservative Alphonse Desjardins 3,050 51.85
Liberal Joseph Lanctot 2,832 48.15
Total valid votes 5,882 100.00
1882 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party Candidate Votes
Conservative Alphonse Desjardins acclaimed
1878 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party Candidate Votes %
Conservative Alphonse Desjardins 3,039 56.48
Unknown Laurent-Olivier David 2,342 43.52
Total valid votes 5,381 100.00
1874 Canadian federal election: Hochelaga
Party Candidate Votes
Conservative Alphonse Desjardins acclaimed

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  • Alphonse Desjardins – Parliament of Canada biography
  • "Alphonse Desjardins". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2016.
  • Gaétan Frigon: Alphonse Desjardins, lawyer, banker and politician, section in: Prudent Beaudry and other pioneering Quebec businessmen, in Legacy. How french Canadians shaped North America. McClelland & Stewart, Toronto 2016; repr. 2019 ISBN 0771072392 p 74 sqq (in French: Bâtisseurs d'Amérique: Des canadiens français qui ont faite de l'histoire. Dir. André Pratte, Jonathan Kay. La Presse, Montréal 2016)