Édouard-Étienne Rodier (December 26, 1804 – February 5, 1840) was a lawyer and political figure in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada () was a British colonization of the Americas, British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence established in 1791 and abolished in 1841. It covered the southern portion o ...

. He was born Étienne-Édouard Rodier in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in 1804, the son of a Montreal merchant, and studied at the Petit Séminaire de Montréal. He studied law with Hippolyte Saint-Georges Dupré and then Dominique-Benjamin Rollin; Rodier was called to the bar in 1827 and set up practice at Montreal. In 1826, he had married Julie-Victoire Dumont, the daughter of a cooper; she died in 1829. In 1831, he married Elise, the daughter of Benjamin Beaupré, a merchant at

L'Assomption L'Assomption () is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the L'Assomption River. It is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of L'Assomption. It is located on the outer fringes of the Montreal urban area. ...

. Rodier moved to L'Assomption; he was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada The Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada was the lower house of the bicameral structure of provincial government in Lower Canada until 1838. The legislative assembly was created by the Constitutional Act of 1791. The lower house consisted of e ...

for that region in an 1832 by-election held after

Barthélemy Joliette Barthélemy Joliette (September 9, 1789 – June 21, 1850) was a notary, businessman, seigneur and political figure in Lower Canada and Canada East. He was a descendant of Louis Jolliet. Early years He was born Barthélemy Jolliet in the ...

was appointed to the legislative council. Rodier was reelected in 1834. As a radical member of the

parti patriote The () or () was a primarily francophone political party in what is now Quebec founded by members of the liberal elite of Lower Canada at the beginning of the 19th century. Its members were made up of liberal professionals and small-scale ...

, he supported an elected legislative council, the creation of a French Canadian republic, the end of seigneurial tenure and ending trade with

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. Rodier voted in support of the

Ninety-Two Resolutions The Ninety-Two Resolutions were drafted by Louis-Joseph Papineau and other members of the '' Parti patriote'' of Lower Canada in 1834. The resolutions were a long series of demands for political reforms in the British-governed colony. Papineau ha ...

. He gave speeches in 1837 that encouraged armed revolt and was a leader in the Fils de la Liberté. After a riot in Montreal, a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was wounded in a clash in December and was brought to Swanton, Vermont. He took part in the preparation of a

declaration of independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...

for Lower Canada in February 1838. In October 1838, he returned his family and law practice in L'Assomption. He was branded by the remaining Patriotes as a traitor. He died at Montreal in 1840. His cousin Charles-Séraphin Rodier later served as mayor of Montreal.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodier, Edouard-Etienne 1804 births 1840 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada