Jeanne Sauvé

From 1942, when she began a five-year term as the National President of the Jeunesse étudiante catholique movement, to 1990, at the conclusion of her mandate as Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada’s Armed Forces when she announced the creation of a permanent international forum for youth, Jeanne Sauvé was a trailblazer.

Born in Saskatchewan, Jeanne Sauvé studied in Ottawa at the Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire Convent and at the University of Ottawa. President of the Jeunesse étudiante catholique movement from 1942 to 1947, she founded the Fédération des mouvements de jeunesse du Québec. Named assistant to the director of the Youth Section of UNESCO in Paris in 1951, she continued her studies at the Université de Paris, earning a degree in French Civilization.

A journalist and broadcaster on the French- and English-language networks of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1952 to 1972, she also took part in public affairs broadcasts for the American NBC and CBS networks and contributed to The Montreal Star.

Elected to the board of the Union des artistes in 1961, she served as Vice-President from 1968 to 1970. In 1964, she was elected President of the Institut canadien des affaires publiques. From 1966 to 1972, she was Secretary General of the Fédération des auteurs et artistes du Canada.

Elected as the Liberal Member of Parliament in Montréal ridings from 1972 to 1980, she served in many ministerial posts before becoming Speaker of the House of Commons. In 1983, she was designated Governor General, a role which she exercised with great majesty for six years.

The Right Honourable Jeanne Sauvé was a member of the Privy Council and an honorary member of the Royal Society of Canada. In addition to her role as founder and honorary chairman of the Jeanne Sauvé Youth Foundation, Jeanne Sauvé was a member of the boards of Industrielle-Alliance Compagnie d’Assurance sur la Vie, Diffusion Power Inc. and Bombardier Inc.

She received numerous awards, prizes and honorary doctorates. Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order of Military Merit and recipient of the Canadian Forces Decoration in 1984, Jeanne Sauvé was honoured with the Prix au mérite of the Fondation Jean-Louis Lévesque in 1984; named the Golda Meir Honouree in 1990; was awarded the Prix de carrière from the Conseil du patronat du Québec in 1990; and the Prix Liberté-Alcan 1991. A score of universities in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia recognized her with honorary doctorates.

Jeanne Sauvé died in 1993. She was inducted into the Academy of Great Montrealers in the Social category in 1991 and was named a Commander of the Ordre de Montréal in 2016.

Source: Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal

The picture and biographical information appearing on this page were current at the time this person was admitted to the Academy of Great Montrealers.