Jean Noël Desmarais was a 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...

 physician, radiologist, and politician.

Born in Sudbury, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, the brother of Louis Desmarais

Louis Desmarais

Louis R. Desmarais was a Liberal party member of the Canadian House of Commons. He was a Chartered Accountant by career....

, he wasn't involved in politics before being appointed to the Senate of Canada representing the senatorial division of Sudbury, Ontario in 1993.

The Jean-Noël Desmarais Pavilion, designed by architect Moshe Safdie

Moshe Safdie

Moshe Safdie, CC, FAIA is an architect, urban designer, educator, theorist, and author. Born in the city of Haifa, then Palestine and now Israel, he moved with his family to Montreal, Canada, when he was 15 years old.-Career:...

, in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is a major museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1860, making it Canada's oldest art institution, it moved to its current location in 1912 thanks to a large donation from businessman James Ross....

is named in his honour.

A cigarette smoker, he died of cancer in 1995.