Alphonse Desjardins

Life & Legacy

Alphonse Desjardins, PC (French pronunciation: [alfɔ̃s deʒaʁdɛ̃]; 6 May 1841 – 4 June 1912) was a Canadian lawyer, journalist, businessman, and politician. Born in Terrebonne, Canada East, he 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 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 Charles Tupper government in 1896. He was named a senator in 1892. He became mayor of Montreal from 1893 to 1894. For a time he held 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.