Jacques Francœur (1925 – July 24, 2005) was a French-Canadian businessman and journalist. He is best known as the owner of the ''

Unimédia Unimédia was a French Canadian media group. Description Before being bought by the Gesca group in 2000, this groupe controlled the following dailies: ''Le Soleil'' (Quebec City), '' Le Quotidien'' (Chicoutimi), and ''Le Droit'' ( Ottawa). It als ...

'' group, making him one of Quebec's media moguls. He was the son of Louis Francœur.

Biography

He had a long career in publishing, which began at the age of 16 at the daily newspaper '' La Patrie''. He later worked for the ''

Montreal Daily Star ''The Montreal Star'' was an English-language Canadian newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It closed in 1979 in the wake of an eight-month pressmen's strike. It was Canada's largest newspaper until the 1950s and remained the dominan ...

'' and ''

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...

''. A few years later, he purchased ''Le Guide du Nord'', which marked the beginning of one of the most important media companies in French Canada. He founded the '' Dimanche-Matin'' newspaper. Following that, he partnered with businessman Paul Desmarais for a number of years to establish the Trans-Canada newspaper group. Toward the end of the 1960s, he acquired the weekly newspapers ''Le Petit Journal'', '' Photo Journal'', and '' La Patrie'', which he closed in 1978. In 1973, he founded ''

'', which would become a publishing conglomerate with a workforce of 2,000 employees and four printing plants. It featured a weekly and two dailies: ''Le Droit'' in Ottawa, ''Le Soleil'' in Québec City and ''Le Quotidien'' in Chicoutimi. After selling ''

'' to

Conrad Black Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour (born 25 August 1944), is a Canadian-born British former newspaper publisher, businessman, and writer. His father was businessman George Montegu Black II, who had significant holdings in Canadi ...

in 1987, he launched one of the most prominent private foundations in Québec, ''Fondation Jacques Francoeur''. This foundation is devoted to funding charities that provide relief for the needy, as well as organizations that promote education. Jacques Francœur also encouraged social and artistic projects for the less fortunate, while granting scholarships for Québec journalists. Furthermore, he was an influential member of many professional and community associations, being a former president of the Newspaper Association of Canada and the Daily Newspaper Association of Québec. Francœur was also active abroad. He was an executive member of the International Press Institute in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, and from 1982 until 1990 he served on the board of directors of the American Association of Newspaper Editors. In 1995, Francœur was given an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

. After his death in 1950, he was entombed at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Francoeur, Jacques 1925 births 2005 deaths Businesspeople from Montreal Journalists from Montreal 20th-century Canadian newspaper publishers (people) Canadian male journalists Canadian newspaper journalists Canadian newspaper founders Sir George Williams University alumni Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery