Antoine Joseph Léger (original) (raw)

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Canadian politician (1880–1950)

Antoine Joseph Léger
Léger, pictured in a 1935 newspaper
Born	(1880-10-16)October 16, 1880Memramcook, New Brunswick
Died	April 7, 1950(1950-04-07) (aged 69)Moncton, New Brunswick
Education	St. Joseph's College
Occupation(s)	Lawyer, author, politician
Political party	Conservative
Spouses	Alvina Léger Marie Bourgeois
Children	5 children
Parent(s)	Julien T. Léger &Marie LeBlanc

Antoine Joseph Léger (October 16, 1880 – April 7, 1950) was a lawyer, author and political figure of Acadian descent in New Brunswick. He represented Westmorland County in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1925 to 1935 as a Conservative member and then represented the division of L'Acadie in the Senate of Canada from 1935 to 1950.

Léger was born in Memramcook, New Brunswick. He was educated there and at the St. Joseph's College. Léger then attended the normal school in Fredericton and worked for several months in Quebec. He returned to New Brunswick to article in law with Alfred LaForest in Edmundston, was called to the Bar of New Brunswick in 1907 and set up practice in Moncton.

Antoine Léger ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in 1917 but won in the 1925 New Brunswick general election as a declared candidate in the Westmorland County Electoral District for the then unofficial Progressive Conservative Party. On September 14, 1925, new Premier John B. M. Baxter appointed him to his Cabinet as the Provincial Secretary-Treasurer (Minister of Finance). Léger held the position until July 16, 1935, when he was defeated in a bid for reelection.

On August 14, 1935, Canadian Prime Minister Richard B. Bennett appointed Antoine Léger to the Senate of Canada.

Léger published Les grandes lignes de l'histoire de la Société l'Assomption, the history of an Acadian association, and wrote articles on Acadian history as well as several historical novels.

Personal life and death

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He married twice, first to Alvina Léger. Widowed, he later married Marie Bourgeois (née Drisdelle).

Léger died in Moncton at the age of 69, from an intracerebral hemorrhage.[1]

1. ^ "Senator A. J. Leger Dies In Hotel At 69". The Moncton Transcript. April 8, 1950. p. 2. Retrieved October 4, 2024.

• Antoine Joseph Léger – Parliament of Canada biography
• Fonds Antoine-J.-Léger, University of Moncton archives (French language)