Joseph Godbout was a physician 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 Beauce

Beauce (electoral district)

Beauce is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the Canadian House of Commons since 1867. In 2006, it had a population of 103,617 people, of whom 82,123 were eligible voters.-Geography:...

 in the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...

 from 1887 to 1901 as an independent Liberal and then Liberal

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...

 member. He sat for La Salle division in the Senate of Canada from 1901 to 1923.

He was born in St-Vital de Lambton, Beauce County, Canada East

Canada East

Canada East was the eastern portion of the United Province of Canada. It consisted of the southern portion of the modern-day Canadian Province of Quebec, and was primarily a French-speaking region....

, the son of Joseph Godbout. Godbout was educated at the Séminaire de Quebec and the Université Laval

Université Laval

Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

. He was married twice: to Rachel Audet in 1878 and, after his first wife's death, to Hermine Fauteux (née St-Pierre). Godbout was mayor of St-François

Saint-François, Quebec

Saint-François is the second largest neighbourhood of Laval, Quebec, Canada, after Duvernay. It was a separate city until the municipal mergers on August 6, 1965.Agriculture occupies most of the land area....

 in 1898. He was named to the Senate by Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Wilfrid Laurier

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC, baptized Henri-Charles-Wilfrid Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada from 11 July 1896 to 6 October 1911....

 on April 4, 1901. Godbout died in office at the age of 72.

His grandson Gaspard Fauteux also served as a member of the House of Commons.