Alphonse Desjardins

Who was Alphonse Desjardins?

Alphonse Desjardins, PC, KPO was born in Terrebonne, Quebec and was mayor of Montreal from 1893 to 1894 and later a Canadian cabinet minister. He married Virginie Paré in 1864 and remarried Hortense Barsalou in 1880.

He was a lawyer, journalist, businessman and politician. He owned a tile factory and participated in the founding of the Banque Jacques-Cartier, which later became part of the National Bank of Canada. He represented the riding of Hochelaga in the House of Commons for 18 years, serving as a cabinet minister and Minister of Militia and Defence for a few months at the end of the Mackenzie Bowell government and then the short-lived Tupper government in 1896. He was named a senator in 1892. He became mayor of Montreal from 1893–1894. For a time he held all three posts simultaneously.

In 1872, he was created a Knight of the Order of Pius IX in acknowledgment of his services to the Catholic Church.