Laurentians and Montreal

Personality

Maurice Richard was born in Montreal. Through his exploits as a star hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens, he became, against his will, the national hero of Quebecers, the symbol of the rebirth of a conquered people fighting for the survival of their culture.

From 1942 to 1960, during 18 eventful seasons, Richard proudly wore his team's colors. He was notably the first hockey player to score 50 goals in a regular season and 500 goals in his career. To commemorate these achievements, the National Hockey League has awarded the Maurice Richard Trophy to the top goal scorer of the regular season every year since 1999. For its part, the Canadiens retired his number 9 jersey in 1960. Finally, the Hockey Hall of Fame welcomed Maurice Richard in 1961.

Following his death, thousands of fans filed past his coffin to pay their last respects. A televised state funeral was organized in Montreal by the Quebec government, a first for a Canadian athlete.

Text written or compiled by the Acadian Museum of Quebec

Personality

Ernest Cormier was an architect, engineer, professor, and watercolorist. Born in Montreal, he died at the age of 95 after a long and fruitful career. In 1906, he graduated with a degree in civil engineering from the École Polytechnique de Montréal. In 1909, he attended the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He also spent some time in Rome to further his studies. Returning to Montreal in 1918, he founded his own architecture and engineering firm. He taught architecture at McGill University (1919-1920) and at the École polytechnique de Montréal (1921-1954).

Ernest Cormier's work is linked to many public and heritage buildings. The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, the Grand Séminaire on the campus of Laval University in Quebec City, and the main pavilion of the University of Montreal are just a few examples. In 1953, his reputation crossed borders with the completion of the entrance doors to the United Nations headquarters in New York.

His residence at 1418 Pine Avenue in Montreal was designated a historic monument by the Quebec government in 1974. This building is particularly remarkable. The Ernest Cormier Esplanade, opposite the Canadian Center for Architecture in Montreal, honors his memory.

Text written or compiled by the Acadian Museum of Quebec.

Personality

Louis-Philippe Hébert was born in Sainte-Sophie-de-Mégantic and died in Montreal.

A sculptor and fine arts teacher, in 1873 he became a student of Napoléon Bourassa, whom he assisted in decorating Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Church in Montreal. He continued his studies in Paris in 1880. Religious wood carving played an important role in his career. His output was considerable; his works can be found in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Ottawa and Trois-Rivières, as well as in churches in Varennes and Longueuil.  Starting in 1887, Hébert shifted his focus to historical subjects in bronze. He reproduced features, costumes, and gestures with such accuracy that his works became historical references. In 1888, he returned to Paris to perfect his skills in the complex techniques of bronze casting.

Some of his works depict Acadian history. In 1920, he designed the Evangeline sculpture, located in Grand-Pré Historical Park in Nova Scotia, and his son Henri executed it. The sculptor created some 50 commemorative and funerary monuments: statuettes, busts, medallions, and medals representing politicians, writers, wealthy financiers, and members of the clergy. Louis-Philippe Hébert also created imposing monuments to Salaberry in Chambly, Sieur Laviolette in Trois-Rivières, Mgr Déziel in Lévis, Georges-Étienne Cartier, Queen Victoria and Sir John A. MacDonald in Ottawa, and Mgr de Laval in Quebec City. He also created several sculptures adorning the façade of the Parliament Building in Quebec City.

His fame was confirmed by various awards: Medal of the Confederation, Knight of the Legion of Honor in Paris, Companion of the Order of St. Michael in London, Knight of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in Rome. He also participated in several world's fairs and international exhibitions in Philadelphia, Boston, Antwerp, Paris, and Glasgow.

Text written or compiled by the Acadian Museum of Quebec

Personality

Joseph-Arsène Richard, better known as Monsignor Richard, was a Catholic priest born in Saint-Liguori.

He arrived in Verdun in 1899. Monsignor Richard was chosen by the bishop as the first parish priest of the new parish of Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs in 1900. He celebrated the Feast of the Assumption there on August 15 with a religious ceremony.

Elected president of the school board in 1899, he remained a commissioner for 32 years. He did not hesitate to recruit female teachers trained by the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame in New Brunswick or the Magdalen Islands to teach in all the schools in Verdun.

Bishop Richard also established the Verdun Hospital Foundation. The facility, founded under the name Hôpital du Chris-Roi de Verdun, was inaugurated in 1932. Services at this facility were required to be bilingual. He called on Acadian nurses from New Brunswick and the Magdalen Islands. With them came hundreds of families from the Magdalen Islands.

Bishop Richard contributed to the choice of Verdun as a place of residence for Acadians. For 40 years, he attracted Acadians from the Gaspé Peninsula and the Magdalen Islands to the area. He organized rallies, conferences, exchanges with Acadians from Louisiana and the Maritimes, Acadian festivals on Assumption Day, etc.

He played an important role in the development of this town, now annexed to Montreal, whose population grew from 1,900 inhabitants in 1901 to 60,000 nearly 30 years later. Bishop Richard died in Verdun.

Text written or compiled by the Acadian Museum of Quebec.

Institution

www.acadiensduquebec.org/acadiensenville

In 1976, a group of Acadians who had left the Acadian Peninsula (New Brunswick) to settle in Montreal founded Les Acadiens en Ville. Proud of their culture and eager to preserve and promote it, the members made the association a gathering place where cultural and social activities brought together a large number of Acadians who lived by their motto, Union and Joy.

During an annual brunch, the club presents its Évangéline Award to a person who promotes Acadian culture or provides exceptional support to the association. On Mother's Day, the club organizes a lobster dinner that brings together hundreds of people.

Text written or compiled by the Acadian Museum of Quebec.

Personality

Jean-Joseph Girouard was a notary, militia officer, politician, patriot, portrait painter, and philanthropist. He was born in Quebec City in 1794.

During the Anglo-American War of 1812–1815, he was an adjutant in the Lavaltrie militia battalion. From 1821 to 1828, he was a captain in the Rivière-du-Chêne (Saint-Eustache) militia battalion.

Girouard was admitted as a notary in 1816 and settled in Saint-Benoît (Mirabel). He served in the Lower Canada House of Assembly from December 1831 until the suspension of the Constitution in 1838. He was a supporter of Louis-Joseph Papineau and a friend of Augustin-Norbert Morin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine.

During the 1837 uprising, he was considered one of the leaders of the Patriote movement in his region, and a price was put on his head. In December 1837, he surrendered to the British and was imprisoned in Montreal. During his time in prison, he provided legal advice, wrote personal letters to the families of prisoners, and drew portraits of dozens of them.

After his release, he devoted himself to notary work and the study of science and philosophy. In 1854, with his second wife, Émilie Berthelot, he founded the Youville Hospice, a convent dedicated to the education of young girls and the care of the elderly.

At the time, Girouard was known as the most influential citizen of Saint-Benoît. To honor his memory, the region's inhabitants nicknamed him "the father of the poor."

Jean-Joseph Girouard dies in Saint-Benoît.

Text written or compiled by the Acadian Museum of Quebec.