France Chrétien Desmarais, (born July 5, 1958) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

lawyer and businesswoman. She is the daughter of

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a retired Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. He served as Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, leader of t ...

, 20th

prime minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons ...

. Chrétien Desmarais is married to André Desmarais, president of the

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 ...

-based

Power Corporation of Canada Power Corporation of Canada is a management and holding company that focuses on financial services in North America, Europe and Asia. Its core holdings are insurance, retirement, wealth management and investment management, including a portfolio ...

, and son of Paul Desmarais, a wealthy businessman. They have four children. One daughter, Jacqueline-Ariadne Desmarais, (b. January 23, 1990, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), married September 7, 2013, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Prince ''Hadrien Étienne Georges André Aldo'' de Croÿ-Rœulx (b. September 9, 1983, Uccle, Brussels, Belgium). The direct descendant of Anne Emmanuel de Croÿ, the 8th Duke of Croÿ of the Solre. Chrétien Desmarais and her husband donated money to build one of the tallest buildings on the University of Ottawa Campus. She was chair of the board of the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation and a graduate of the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

. She is also currently chair of the Canadian Olympic Foundation as well as vice-chair of the

One Drop Foundation One Drop is an international non-profit organization based in Montreal, created in 2007 by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté, which is focused on water initiatives. Arts and culture One Drop uses circus arts, folklore, popular theatre, musi ...

. In 2011, Chrétien Desmarais was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

References

1958 births Living people Businesspeople from Quebec Canadian women in business Children of prime ministers of Canada France Chretien Chrétien family Lawyers in Quebec University of Ottawa alumni University of Ottawa Faculty of Law alumni {{quebec-bio-stub