Jacques Viger (May 7, 1787 – December 12, 1858) was an antiquarian, archaeologist, and the first

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Government of Canada, Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is ...

, Canada.

Biography

Viger was born in Montreal, the son of Jacques Viger who represented Kent in the 2nd Parliament of Lower Canada, and studied at the Sulpician college of Montreal. On November 17, 1808 he married Marie Marguerite La Corne, daughter of

Luc de la Corne Luc de la Corne, (1711 – October 1, 1784) also known as Saint Luc, was the son of Jean-Louis de La Corne de Chaptes (1666-1732), King's Lieutenant at Montreal, and Marie Pécaudy de Contrecœur. Saint-Luc was an officer in the Compagnies F ...

, and widow of Major the Hon. John Lennox. They had three children, all of whom died in infancy. After his studies he went to

, where he worked as an editor of the newspaper

Le Canadien ''Le Canadien'' () was a French language newspaper published in Lower Canada from November 22, 1806 to March 14, 1810. Its motto was: ''"Nos institutions, notre langue et nos droits"'' (Our institutions, our language, our rights). It was released ...

from November 1808 to May 1809. Viger served as captain in the Canadian Voltigeurs unit under

Charles de Salaberry Lieutenant Colonel Charles-Michel d'Irumberry de Salaberry, CB (November 19, 1778 – February 27, 1829) was a Canadian military officer and statesman of the seigneurial class who served in various campaigns for the British Army. He won distin ...

during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It ...

. He was elected the first

mayor of Montreal The mayor of Montreal is head of the executive branch of the Montreal City Council. The current mayor is Valérie Plante, who was elected into office on November 5, 2017, and sworn in on November 16. The office of the mayor administers all ...

in 1833 and worked to improve its sanitary conditions. Although he wrote little, his reputation as an archaeologist was universal, and the greatest contemporary historians of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

have drawn from his collection of manuscripts, based on forty years of research. He compiled a chronicle under the title of "Sabretache" (28 vols.), wherein he gathered plans, maps, portraits, and valuable notes illustrating many contested historical points. He was the founder of the Historical Society of Montreal in 1857, one year before his death. Pope Pius IX honoured him with the knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. He died December 12, 1858 at age 71 and was buried in the crypt of the

Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Church Notre-Dame-de-Grâce ( en, Our Lady of Grace), also nicknamed NDG, is a residential neighbourhood of Montreal in the city's West End, with a population of 166,520 (2016). An independent municipality until annexed by the City of Montreal in 1910, ...

on December 15.

Honours

The Viger Square and Jacques Viger Building in Montreal are named in his honour.

References

* Robert, Jean-Claude. �
Viger, Jacques
», in ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online'', University of Toronto and Université Laval, 2000 * Ville de Montréal
Jacques Viger — ''L'Album Viger : Souvenirs canadiens''
nline exposition

Bibliography

External links

*
Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
*
Ancestors of Jacques Viger
{{DEFAULTSORT:Viger, Jacques 1787 births 1858 deaths 19th-century Canadian civil servants Canadian archaeologists Mayors of Montreal Presidents of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal

Biography

Honours

See also

References

Bibliography

External links