Alexis Louis Nihon, was a Belgian-born Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 inventor and businessman.

Biography

Born in Liège, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, the son of Alexis Laurent Nihon and Marie Florentine Thiry, he moved to Canada when he was eighteen years old.

In 1940, he started the glass manufacturer Compagnie industrielle du verre limitée (Industrial Glass Works Company Limited) in Saint-Laurent, Quebec; it was one of the few Canadian glass manufacturers during the Second World War. He sold it in the 1940s. In 1946, he started Corporation Alexis Nihon (today Alexis Nihon REIT) that would later become one of the largest real estate companies in Canada.

He was married to Alice Robert Nihon. They had five children. He died at his home in Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau, Bahamas

Nassau is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. The city has a population of 248,948 , 70 percent of the entire population of The Bahamas...

 in 1980.

In addition to the REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust

Real estate investment trust

A real estate investment trust or REIT is a tax designation for a corporate entity investing in real estate. The purpose of this designation is to reduce or eliminate corporate tax. In return, REITs are required to distribute 90% of their taxable income into the hands of investors...

), his name lives on as a major residential/commercial thoroughfare

Thoroughfare

A thoroughfare is a place of transportation intended to connect one location to another. Highways, roads, and trails are examples of thoroughfares used by a variety of general traffic. On land a thoroughfare may refer to anything from a rough trail to multi-lane highway with grade separated...

, Alexis Nihon Boulevard, in Saint-Laurent, and the Place Alexis Nihon

Place Alexis Nihon

Place Alexis Nihon is a complex in Downtown Montreal, Quebec , consisting of a shopping centre, two office towers, and a residential building...

 shopping mall

Shopping mall

A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

 in downtown Montreal

Downtown Montreal

Downtown Montreal is the central business district of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is nearly enitirely located at the southern most slope of Mount Royal and is approximately bounded by Sherbrooke Street to the north, Papineau Avenue to the east, Guy Street or until Shaughnessy Village to the west,...

. It was built on one of his several tracts of land that he rented to developers.