Zoé Laurier

Zoé Laurier, Lady Laurier (née Lafontaine; June 26, 1841 – November 1, 1921), was the wife of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh Prime Minister of Canada.

Lady Laurier
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Canada
In role
July 11, 1896 – October 7, 1911
Preceded byFrances Tupper
Succeeded byLaura Borden
Personal details
Born
Zoé Lafontaine

(1841-06-26)June 26, 1841[1][2]
Montreal, Canada East
DiedNovember 1, 1921(1921-11-01) (aged 80)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada[3]
Resting placeNotre Dame Cemetery, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Spouse(s)Sir Wilfrid Laurier

Biography
Portrait of Miss Zoë Lafontaine.
Madame Zoë Laurier, April 1878. By William James Topley in Ottawa.
Portrait of Lady Laurier

Zoé Lafontaine was born on 27 June 1841 to Godefroy-Napoleon Robert and Zoé Tessier dite Lavigne[4][Note 1] in Montreal. She was baptized on 28 June at the Notre-Dame Basilica.[5]

In Montreal, Lafontaine was educated at the School of the Bon Pasteur, and at the Convent of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, St. Vincent de Paul. She served as one of the vice presidents on the formation of the National Council of Women of Canada and was honorary vice president of the Victorian Order of Nurses.

In 1861, Lafontaine first met her future husband, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, at the home of Dr. Séraphin Gauthier, where both were boarding. During this time she was a piano teacher to Gauthier's children.[4][6]

On May 13, 1868, the two were married in the Saint-Jacques Cathedral.[6] The couple lived at Arthabaskaville until they moved to Ottawa in 1896. Ultimately, their union was childless, to Laurier's dismay.

Lafontaine served as one of the vice presidents on the formation of the National Council of Women and was honorary vice president of the Victorian Order of Nurses.[7]

On 17 February 1919, Laurier died. Lafontaine outlived her husband by nearly two years. She died in Ottawa on 1 November 1921 at the age of 80.[5]

Her will bequeathed her Ottawa home to William Lyon Mackenzie King.[8]

Trivia
  • Zoé Lafontaine is not related to Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, the first Prime Minister of the Province of Canada.[4]
  • Zoé Laurier was fond of organizing musical evenings and card parties, where she enjoyed playing poker.[9]
  • Lady Laurier was given a speeding ticket on 8 February 1910 for going more than 10 miles per hour (16 km/h).[10]

Legacy
The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Lady Laurier
gollark: Yes.
gollark: Also much more practical.
gollark: <@498244879894315027> You can already get directional WiFi antennas, which are safer than a maser or something.
gollark: Not necessarily.
gollark: You would have to... wait quite a while? And people would complain.

See also
  • Spouses of the Prime Ministers of Canada

Notes
  1. The genealogist Jean-Jacques Lefebvre is mistaken when he refers to her as Zoé Tessier.

References
  1. "Dictionary – Definition of ZOE LAURIER". Websters-online-dictionary.org. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
  2. "Automated Genealogy 1901 Census Transcription Project". Automatedgenealogy.com. 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
  3. The Morning Leader – Google News Archive Search
  4. Macdonald & Laurier Days » Answers from Historians Christopher Moore and Réal Bélanger Archived April 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Généalogie Zoe Lafontaine
  6. Bélanger, Réal (1998). "Laurier, Sir Wilfrid (baptized Henry-Charles-Wilfrid)". In Cook, Ramsay; Hamelin, Jean (eds.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. XIV (1911–1920) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  7. Morgan, Henry James, ed. (1903). Types of Canadian Women and of Women who are or have been Connected with Canada. Toronto: Williams Briggs. p. 192.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on August 10, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. ARCHIVED – Fun-Picture Gallery-First Among Equals-Children's Version
  11. Ministry of Environment – Graham-Laurier
  12. ARCHIVED – USQUE AD MARE – The Lady Laurier – CCG Publications Archived August 7, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  13. http://www.duvillage1860.com/#/products/lady-laurier-darthabaska.html
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