Have you ever visited Old Montréal? Perhaps you’ve noticed that there is a street there named after St. Paul, in memory of Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve. What did he do to merit such an honour? Well, he was the founder of Montréal, which was called Ville-Marie in 1642.

Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve was born in France. He was a military officer when he was chosen by the Société de Notre-Dame to become the first governor of Montréal. He was 30 years old when he arrived in Ville-Marie, and was accompanied by about 40 colonists.

French narration at http://primaire.recitus.qc.ca/sujets/5/personnages-marquants/99

Settlers wanted

Maisonneuve spent more than 20 years developing the colony, returning to France a few times to seek financial and material assistance and, more importantly, to recruit new settlers. During one trip, in 1653, he managed to bring back about 100 men with him.

He returned to France indefinitely in 1665, where he died 11 years later.

Author: Service national du Récit de l’univers social

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