Pierre Eugène Lafontaine (November 26, 1857 – April 21, 1935) was a lawyer, educator, judge and political figure in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. He represented

Napierville Napierville () is a municipality in the Jardins de Napierville Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada, situated in the Montérégie administrative region. The population as of the 2021 Canadian Census was 4,020. It is the location of t ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of Quebec A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the authority, legal authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with th ...

from 1886 to 1890 as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

. He was born in Saint-Édouard,

Canada East Canada East () was the northeastern portion of the Province of Canada. Lord Durham's Report investigating the causes of the Upper and Lower Canada Rebellions recommended merging those two colonies. The new colony, known as the Province of ...

, the son of Laurent-David Lafontaine and Edwige Singer. Lafontaine was educated at the

Collège de Montréal The Collège de Montréal () is a subsidized private high school for students attending grades 7–11 located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A former Roman Catholic minor seminary, it was founded on June 1, 1767 as the ''Petit Séminai ...

and the

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

at Montreal. He was admitted to the Quebec bar in 1879 and practised in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

with Raymond Préfontaine and then

Frédéric Liguori Béique Frédéric Liguori Béique, (May 20, 1845 – September 12, 1933) was a Canadian lawyer and politician. Born in Saint-Mathias, Quebec, he was trained as a lawyer and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1868. On 15 April 1875 at Saint-Jacques ...

. In 1880, he married Elmire, the daughter of Louis-Joseph Moll. He was named

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1899. Lafontaine served as president of the Montreal Catholic School Board from 1919 to 1928. He was professor of civil law at the Université Laval and was dean of the faculty of law from 1922 to 1930. Lafontaine was named judge in the

Quebec Superior Court The Superior Court of Quebec () is a superior trial court in the Province of Quebec, in Canada. It consists of 157 judges who are appointed by the federal government. Appeals from this court are taken to the Quebec Court of Appeal. Jurisdictio ...

for Montreal district in 1906 and in the

Court of King's Bench The Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the '' curia regis'', the King's Bench initi ...

in 1922. He retired from the bench in 1932. He died three years later in Montreal at the age of 77 and was buried in

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (, ) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run along a part of Côte-des-Neiges Ro ...

. Lafontaine was the author of ''Droit romain'' published in 1912 and contributed to ''la Revue légale'' and ''Thémis''.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lafontaine, Eugene 1857 births 1935 deaths Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Judges in Quebec Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Canadian King's Counsel Université Laval alumni Lawyers in Quebec 19th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Quebec