François Évanturel (October 22, 1821 – March 12, 1891) was a

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, ...

lawyer, journalist and political figure. He was born in

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

in 1821, the son of a soldier in

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

's army who had joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

after having been taken prisoner. He studied at the Petit Séminaire de Quebec from 1832 to 1841, articled in law with

René-Édouard Caron René-Édouard Caron (21 October 1800 – 13 December 1876) was a Canadian politician, judge, and the List of lieutenant governors of Quebec#Lieutenant Governors of Quebec, 1867–present, second Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. He was born ...

and was called to the bar in 1845. He set up practice at Quebec City. Évanturel served in the local militia, becoming captain. He was a member of the

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society (, ) is an institution in the Canadian province of Quebec dedicated to the protection of Quebec francophone interests and to the promotion of Quebec sovereignism. It is known as the oldest patriotic association in ...

and helped found the Institut Canadien, serving as its first treasurer. He was elected to the

Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada The Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was the lower house of the Parliament of the Province of Canada. The Province of Canada consisted of the former province of Lower Canada, then known as Canada East (now Quebec), and Upper Canada ...

in an 1855 by-election in Quebec County as a member of the

parti bleu The Parti bleu (, "Blue Party") was a political group that contested elections in the Canada East, Eastern section of the Province of Canada. The Blue Party was ideologically located on the Right-wing politics, political right; it was also defin ...

. In 1857, he was elected to the board for the North Shore Railway. He was defeated in the same year when he ran for election in two different ridings. In 1861, he was elected to represent Quebec County as a Liberal. Évanturel served in the Executive Council as minister of agriculture from 1862 to 1863; he was reelected in 1863 and served until

Confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

. In 1862, he was a member of a group of Liberals who bought the newspaper ''

Le Canadien ''Le Canadien'' () was a French language newspaper published at various times in Lower Canada, then the Province of Canada, and finally the province of Quebec, at various times in the 19th century. It went through three different publication pha ...

''; he became sole owner and editor in 1866. He sold the paper in 1872. He died in Quebec City in 1891. His son François-Eugène-Alfred went on to serve in the Ontario legislative assembly.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Evanturel, Francois 1821 births 1891 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from Canada East Journalists from Quebec Writers from Quebec City 19th-century Canadian journalists Canadian male journalists 19th-century Canadian male writers Politicians from Quebec City