De Maisonneuve, Paul de Chomedey National Historic Person
Montréal, Quebec
Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve
(© Library and Archives Canada | Bibliothèque et Archives Canada)
Address :
119 Saint-Jacques Street, Montréal, Quebec
Recognition Statute:
Historic Sites and Monuments Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. H-4)
Designation Date:
1985-06-01
Life Date:
1612 to 1676
Other Name(s):
-
Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve
(Designation Name)
Importance:
Founded the city of Montréal (Ville-Marie) in 1642
Plaque(s)
Existing plaque: 119 Saint-Jacques Street, Montréal, Quebec
Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, a military officer born in Champagne, France, was the first Governor of the Island of Montréal. Influenced by the spiritual climate of the age and by the writings of the Jesuits, he accepted a call from the Société Notre Dame de Montréal, an association of devout laymen and priests, to establish a missionary colony in Canada. On 17 May 1642, he and a party of fifty people founded Ville Marie. Although years of hardship and strife followed for the pioneer settlers, Maisonneuve had laid the foundations upon which the metropolis of Montréal was built.