Alexandre-Édouard Kierzkowski (November 21, 1816 – August 4, 1870) was a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

and political figure in

Canada East Canada East (french: links=no, Canada-Est) was the northeastern portion of the United Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new ...

Life

He was born as Aleksander Edward Kierzkowski in the

Grand Duchy of Poznań The Grand Duchy of Posen (german: Großherzogtum Posen; pl, Wielkie Księstwo Poznańskie) was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following th ...

(now in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

) and joined the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

as an officer in an unsuccessful campaign against the Russians in 1830 to 1831. He was the son of the Jakub Filip Kierzkowski polish nobleman and officer and Marianna Garnysz. He moved to France and received a diploma as a civil engineer in Paris. He arrived in Canada in 1842. In 1845, he married Louise-Amélie Debartzch, daughter of

Pierre-Dominique Debartzch Pierre-Dominique Debartzch (September 22, 1782 – September 6, 1846) was a lawyer, seigneur, newspaper owner and political figure in Lower Canada. He was born in Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu in 1782, the son of a merchant of Polish descent, ...

, and, by marriage, became

seigneur ''Seigneur'' is an originally feudal title in France before the Revolution, in New France and British North America until 1854, and in the Channel Islands to this day. A seigneur refers to the person or collective who owned a ''seigneurie'' (or ...

of parts of Saint-François-le-Neuf, Cournoyer, Debartzch, and L'Assomption. He became justice of the peace and was appointed major in the Richilieu militia in 1855. In 1858, he was elected to the Legislative Council for the Montarville division, but he was disqualified in 1861 because the value of the property that he owned was not judged to be adequate. In 1861, he was elected to the

7th Parliament of the Province of Canada The 7th Parliament of the Province of Canada was summoned in July 1861, following the general election for the Legislative Assembly in June 1861. It first met on July 15, 1861, and was dissolved in May 1863. This was the first election in the Pr ...

representing

Verchères Verchères is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in Montérégie, Quebec, located on the south bank of the Saint Lawrence River. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 5,692. History In the 17th century, the settlement at Verchères w ...

; his election was declared invalid in 1863. In 1868, after the death of his first wife, he married Caroline-Virginie, his wife's cousin and the daughter of François-Roch de Saint-Ours. In 1867, he was elected to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

representing

St. Hyacinthe Saint-Hyacinthe (; French: ) is a city in southwestern Quebec east of Montreal on the Yamaska River. The population as of the 2021 Canadian census was 57,239. The city is located in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality of the Montérég ...

; he died while still in office at

Saint-Ours, Quebec Saint-Ours is a city located in the Pierre-De Saurel Regional County Municipality of Québec (Canada), in the administrative region of Montérégie. The population as of the Canada 2011 Census was 1,721. Founded in 1650 and originally constituent ...

in 1870. He is believed to have returned from a trip to his native country with some Polish soil that was later buried with him.

Electoral record

External links

* *
Alexandre-Édouard Kierzkowski fonds, Library and Archives Canada
* 1816 births 1870 deaths Liberal Party of Canada MPs Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Members of the Legislative Council of the Province of Canada Polish emigrants to Canada Canadian justices of the peace {{Liberal-Quebec-MP-stub