Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau

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Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau (17 February 1820 – April 12, 1898) was a Roman Catholic Archbishop of Québec City and the first Canadian cardinal. His father was Jean-Thomas Taschereau, a son of Gabriel-Elzéar Taschereau, the patriarch of this rather remarkable French Canadian family.

Born in 1820 he studied at the Séminaire de Québec (1826-36, 1837-42) and, by all accounts, was a highly regarded student. He obtained a doctorate in Canon law in Rome in 1856 and had a dual career in teaching and the episcopacy.

He was a teacher, director, prefect of studies and superior at the Séminaire de Québec; he helped found Laval University in 1852 and served as its second rector (1860-66, 1869-71).

At the urging of the Canadian government and many, in 1886 Pope Leo XIII made Taschereau a cardinal. He was not able to enjoy the for long as illness forced him to turn over his workload to Louis-Nazaire Bégin. He died at Québec on April 12, 1898.

[edit] External links

• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

• The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, by Salvador Miranda at Florida International University

• Biography at the Catholic Encyclopedia

• The Canadian Encyclopedia: Taschereau, Elzéar-Alexandre

• Assemblée Nationale Quebec: Thomas-Pierre-Joseph Taschereau (in French)

Preceded by: Archbishop Charles-François Baillargeon (1855-1870)

Roman Catholic Bishop of Québec (1871-1898)

Succeeded by: Cardinal Archbishop Louis Nazaire Bégin (1898-1925)