Louis-Léon Lesieur Desaulniers
Encyclopedia
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....
physician and political figure. He represented Saint-Maurice 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...
as a Conservative
Conservative Party of Canada (historical)
The Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.As a result of World War I and the...
member from 1867 to 1868 and from 1879 to 1887.
He was born in Yamachiche
Yamachiche, Quebec
Yamachiche is a municipality in the Mauricie region of the province of Quebec in Canada.-Etymology:The name Yamachiche was first used to identify the Little Yamachiche River which runs through the town. It came from the Native American words iyamitaw and achichki...
, Lower Canada
Lower Canada
The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence...
in 1823, the son of François Lesieur Desaulniers
François Lesieur Desaulniers
François Lesieur Desaulniers was a Quebec farmer and political figure.He was born in Yamachiche in 1785. He served as lieutenant-colonel in the local militia. In 1805, he married Charlotte, the daughter of Augustin Rivard, who represented Saint-Maurice in the legislative assembly from 1792 to 1796...
, who represented Saint-Maurice in the legislative assemblies for Lower Canada and the Province of Canada. He studied at the Séminaire de Nicolet, then went on to study medicine, first at Trois-Rivières and then at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, graduating in 1846. He returned to practice in Yamachiche. He was elected to represent Saint-Maurice in the Legislative Assembly of Canada in 1854, 1858 and 1861 as a member of the parti bleu
Parti bleu
The Parti bleu was a moderate political group in Quebec, Canada that emerged in 1854. It was based on the moderate reformist views of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine, and was a rival to the radical Parti rouge....
, then was defeated in 1863. He was elected to the 1st Canadian Parliament
1st Canadian Parliament
The 1st Canadian Parliament was in session from November 6, 1867 until July 8, 1872. The membership was set by the 1867 federal election from August 7 to September 20, 1867, and it changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections until it was prorogued prior to the 1872 election.It was...
in 1867 but resigned in 1868 to become inspector for prisons and asylums in Quebec, later serving as president of that agency. Desaulniers also was an officer in the local militia. He died in Montreal in 1896.
His son Eugène Merrill was later a member of 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...
.