Bernard Bissonnette was a lawyer, merchant, educator, judge and political figure in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. He represented L'Assomption

L'Assomption (provincial electoral district)

L'Assomption is a provincial electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that elects members to the National Assembly of Quebec. Created in 1829 and located in the Lanaudière region, the district includes the municipalities of Saint-Sulpice and L'Assomption and portions of the city of Repentigny.-Members...

 in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec

Legislative Assembly of Quebec

The Legislative Assembly of Quebec was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature until 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, the upper house of the legislature, the Legislative Council, was abolished...

 from 1939 to 1944 as a Liberal. Bissonnette was Speaker of the Legislative Assembly

President of the National Assembly of Quebec

The President of the National Assembly of Quebec is the presiding officer of the National Assembly of Quebec, Canada, which is modeled after the Westminster parliamentary system...

 from 1940 to 1942.

He was born in Saint-Esprit, Quebec

Saint-Esprit, Quebec

Saint-Esprit is a municipality in the Lanaudière region of Quebec, Canada, part of the Montcalm Regional County Municipality. It is located on both banks of the Saint-Esprit River, a tributary of the L'Assomption River.-History:...

, the son of Pierre-Julien-Léonidas Bissonnette

Pierre-Julien-Léonidas Bissonnette

Pierre-Julien-Léonidas Bissonnette was a physician and political figure in Quebec. He represented Montcalm in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec from 1897 to 1908 as a Liberal....

 and Juliette Lamarche. Bissonnette was educated at the Collège de l'Assomption and the Université de Montréal

Université de Montréal

The Université de Montréal is a public francophone research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two affiliated schools: the École Polytechnique and HEC Montréal...

. He articled in law with Amédée Monet, was called to the Quebec bar in 1920 and set up practice in Montréal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

. He later practised in partnership with Honoré Mercier and with Roch Pinard

Roch Pinard

Roch Pinard, was a Canadian politician.Born in Nicolet, Quebec, he was a lawyer before being elected to the Canadian House of Commons in Quebec the riding of Chambly—Rouville in 1945 federal election. A Liberal, he was re-elected in the 1949 election and the 1953 election...

. In 1931, he was named King's Counsel. He was a co-founder of the L'Assomption Shoe company. He resigned his seat in 1942 after he was named to the Court of King's Bench

Quebec Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal for Quebec is the highest judicial court in Quebec, Canada....

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He taught constitutional law and civil law in the law faculty of the Université de Montréal. Bissonnette was secretary of the Barreau de Montréal in 1927. In 1935, he married Jacqueline Masson.

Bissonnette died in Montreal at the age of 66 and was buried in the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery

Founded in 1854, Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges is a 343-acre cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The entrance and the grounds run along a part of chemin Côte-des-Neiges and up the slopes of Mount Royal...

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