Gabriel-Alphonse Desjardins (November 5, 1854 – October 31, 1920), born in

Lévis, Quebec Lévis () is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada, located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Quebec City. A ferry links Old Quebec with Old Lévis, and two bridges, the Quebec and the Pierre-Laporte, connect western Lévis wit ...

, was the co-founder of the ''Caisses Populaires Desjardins'' (today

Desjardins Group The Desjardins Group (french: Mouvement Desjardins) is a Canadian financial service cooperative and the largest federation of credit unions (french: caisses populaires) in North America. It was founded in 1900 in Lévis, Quebec by Alphonse D ...

), a forerunner of North American credit unions and community banks. For his contribution to the advancement of agriculture in the province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the 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 one of the thirte ...

, he was posthumously inducted to the Agricultural Hall of Fame of Quebec in 1994.

Early life

Gabriel-Alphonse Desjardins was a journalist at '' L'écho'' and '' Le Canadien'' until 1879. He was publisher of '' Débats de la législature du Québec'' from 1879 to 1890, and French-language parliamentary stenographer at 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 Commo ...

from 1892 to 1917.

Start of caisses populaires

In 1897 Desjardins became increasingly concerned with the problem of

usury Usury () is the practice of making unethical or immoral monetary loans that unfairly enrich the lender. The term may be used in a moral sense—condemning taking advantage of others' misfortunes—or in a legal sense, where an interest rate is c ...

and undertook three years of careful research and correspondence with the founders of cooperative savings and credit movements in Europe. On December 6, 1900, Desjardins and his wife,

Dorimène Roy Desjardins Marie-Clara Dorimène Roy Desjardins (September 17, 1858 - June 14, 1932) and her husband Alphonse Desjardins were co-founders of the ''Caisses populaires Desjardins'' (today Desjardins Group), a forerunner of North America North Am ...

, co-founded the first ''Caisse d'épargne Desjardins'' in Lévis and opened for business the following month. Later renamed ''Caisses populaires Desjardins'' (and today

), the organization was a forerunner of current

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including deposit accounts, provis ...

s. Caisse populaire is a synthesis of four popular savings and credit systems established in Germany, Italy and France: the caisse d'épargne, the Schulze-Delitzsch bank, the Raiffeisen credit co-operative and the Luzzatti popular bank. Desjardins stayed in close contact with many of the founders of the European co-operative movement throughout his life. From 1900 to 1906, Desjardins founded just three other caisses populaires: Lauzon (1902),

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

(1903), and

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, on the English Channel coast. The walled city had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth from local extortion and overseas adventures. In 1944, the All ...

Québec Quebec ( ; )According to the 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 one of the thirte ...

(1905). After failing to get a federal law passed in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

that would provide a Canadian-wide framework for more such organizations, Desjardins turned his efforts, with the collaboration of journalists and priests, to founding more caisses. During the 1907-1914 period, Desjardins personally founded 146 caisses. At the time of his death in 1920, there were 187 caisses populaires in

(30,000 members and total assets of nearly $6 million), 24 in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and 9 in 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. Alphonse and Dorimène Desjardins' home, where the first caisse populaire was launched, is now a center dedicated to his memory and has been visited by over 178,000 people from 115 countries since its opening in 1982.

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''

at collections.ic.gc.ca
About Desjardins – Historical context
at www.desjardins.com
About Desjardins - 1900 - 1920: Start up
at www.desjardins.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desjardins, Alphonse Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople 1854 births 1920 deaths Canadian cooperative organizers People from Lévis, Quebec Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada) Desjardins Group Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery

Early life

Start of caisses populaires

See also

External links

References