Browse "Francophones"

This timeline highlights events and people related to Acadian History.

Adélard Raymond, pilot, businessman and politician (born 10 July 1889 in Saint-Stanislas-de-Kostka, QC; died 23 February 1962 in Montreal, QC). Raymond was a French-Canadian pilot who served in the First World War and then in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) from 1934 to 1945. He was the second French Canadian to be appointed air vice-marshal. Raymond was also involved in the hotel industry and in various commercial operations. He was elected mayor of Senneville, on the west island of Montreal, serving from June 1951 to June 1959.

Alain Simard, OC, COQ impresario, talent manager, producer, businessman (born 19 January 1950 in Montreal, QC). Alain Simard has been a leading figure in Quebec’s entertainment sector since the early 1970s. He is responsible for the conception and founding of some of Canada’s biggest annual festivals, including the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (FIJM) and the FrancoFolies de Montréal, one of the largest French-language music festivals in the world. Simard is also chairman of the board of Équipe Spectra, which manages and operates festivals and performance venues, mounts stage productions, runs a record label and manages artists. In 2003, Simard was named the most influential person in the cultural world by the Montreal newspaper La Presse. He is a Chevalier of France’s Arts et des Lettres, of the Ordre de la Pléiade, and of the Ordre national du Québec; as well as an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Joseph Lionel Elphege Albert de Niverville, pilot (born 31 August 1897 in Montreal, QC; died 14 June 1968 in Montreal, QC). During the First World War, de Niverville served in the Royal Air Force (RAF). He also served during the Second World War and was one of the few French-Canadian officers in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) at the time. He rose to the rank of air vice-marshal, the first French Canadian to do so.

Albert Frédéric Saint-Martin, educator, social activist, militant socialist (b at Montréal 1 Oct 1865; d there 9 Feb 1947).

 Albert Lacombe, Oblate priest, missionary (b at St-Sulpice, LC 28 Feb 1827; d at Midnapore, near Calgary 16 Dec 1916).

Albert Tessier, producer, priest and educator (b at Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade, Qué 6 Mar 1895; d at Trois-Rivières, 13 Sept 1976). Born into a peasant family, he joined the priesthood in 1920.

Alexandre-Antonin Taché, missionary, Roman Catholic priest, archbishop (b at Rivière-du-Loup, Qué 23 July 1823; d at St-Boniface, Man 22 June 1894).

Alphonse Verville, plumber, labourist, socialist, MP, president of the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada (b at Côte-St-Paul [Montréal], Canada E 28 Oct 1864; d at Montréal 20 June 1930).

Amérique française, magazine founded 1941 by former Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf students led by Pierre Baillargeon, following Collège publications by François Hertel and his colleagues. The magazine accurately reflected the artistic ideals of a certain Québec intellectual elite.

Anne Legault, actress, playwright, novelist, short-story writer, teacher (b at Lachine, Qué 7 July 1958). Anne Legault began her career acting in children's theatre and television after completing her studies at the Conservatoire d'art dramatique in Montréal in 1981.

​Anne-Marie Huguenin (née Gleason, pen name “Madeleine”), writer, journalist and editor (born 5 October 1875 in Rimouski, Québec; died 21 October 1943 in Montréal).

Antonine Maillet, CC, OQ, ONB, novelist, playwright, translator, scholar (born 10 May 1929 in Bouctouche, NB).

Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel, Roman Catholic bishop of Toronto (b near Monistrol-sur-Loire, France 1 Dec 1802; d at Crest, France 29 Mar 1891). Of noble birth, Charbonnel entered the priesthood in the Society of St-Sulpice.

Belgians have contributed significantly to the economic, social and cultural development of Canada despite their relatively small numbers and their dispersion across the country. Originally, the majority of immigrants were Flemings whose settlement concentred in the agricultural regions of Québec, southwestern Ontario and Manitoba. Since 1945, Belgian immigrants have tended to be young, well-educated French-speaking professionals and entrepreneurs who prefer the urban centres, particularly in British Columbia and Alberta.