Jacques Viger

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Jacques Viger's image in stained glass in the McGill Station of the Montreal Metro, next to the image of his successor as mayor, Peter McGill.

Jacques Viger (May 7, 1787 – December 12, 1858) was an antiquarian, archaeologist, and the first mayor of Montreal, Quebec.

Viger was born in Montreal, the son of Jacques Viger who represented Kent in the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada, and studied at the Sulpician college of Montreal. He served as captain in the Canadian Voltigeurs unit under Charles de Salaberry during the War of 1812. He was elected the first mayor of Montreal in 1833 and worked to improve its sanitary conditions. Although he wrote little, his reputation as an archaeologist was universal, and the greatest contemporary historians of France and the United States have drawn from his collection of manuscripts, based on forty years of research. He compiled a chronicle under the title of "Sabretache" (28 vols.), wherein he gathered plans, maps, portraits, and valuable notes illustrating many contested historical points. He was the founder of the "Historical Society of Montreal". Pope Pius IX honoured him with the knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory the Great.

He died December 12, 1858 at age 71. The Édifice Jacques-Viger and Viger Square in Montreal are named in his honour.