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Jules Léger was our 21st
Governor General and the 3rd Canadian to
hold the position. He was born on
April 4th, 1913 in the town of St-Anicet
in Quebec. As were time times, Léger
grew up in a very religious setting and
his older brother, Paul-Emile Léger was
to join the priesthood in Quebec and
rose to the position of Cardinal in the
Roman Catholic Church. Léger began hi
studies at Collège de Valleyfield in the
arts and later moved onto the University
of Montreal. After earning his Law
Degree he travelled to France where he
attended the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1938
he was awarded his doctorate from that
institution and married Gabrielle Carmel
who he had met in France.
Léger, with an
interest in international relations,
returned to Canada and moved to Ottawa
where he was an associate editor for a
publication and taught at the University
of Ottawa in 1938 and 1939, In 1940 he
left the academic world and joined the
Ministry of External Affairs and started
a successful career as a diplomat. By
1953 he had be named Canada's ambassador
to Mexico, and moved up quickly in the
Ministry with terms as Ambassador to
Italy, France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
On January 14th, 1974,
he was appointed as Governor General of
Canada but while at an official event,
six months later, he suffered a stroke
and left him with severe speaking
problems and a paralytic left arm.
Rather then retire and give in to the
setback, he, with the help of his wife
Gabrielle and his therapist worked
intensely to rehabilitate himself and
regain the use of his speech. During
this process, Gabrielle was constantly
at his side and in many cases
represented him by giving speeches such
as a portion of the throne speech and
presided over events he had been invited
to or was scheduled to attend.
In December of 1974
Léger was able to officially resume his
duties as Governor General and perform
the official functions of his office. As
he healed he and Gabrielle were able to
travel across the country constantly and
during those trips they showed a devoted
support for the fine arts. This was a
period of rising tensions in Quebec and
Canada, due to the rising tide of
separatism which was to come to a head
in 1980.
He established several
awards such as the Jules Léger Prize for
New Chamber Music, the award for
heritage conservation and the
Jules Léger Scholarship for academic
excellence in bilingual projects.
His official portrait
included his wife Gabrielle because of
her devoted support during his illness
and her willingness to step into his
role when required. This is the only
portrait which has the consort of the
Governor General included.
Léger left office in
1979 but remained in Ottawa and on
November 22nd, 1980 he passed away. |
