Armand Renaud Lavergne
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Armand Renaud Lavergne (February 21, 1880 – March 5, 1935) was a Quebec lawyer, journalist and political figure. He represented Montmagny in the Canadian House of Commons as a Liberal member from 1904 to 1908 and as a Conservative member from 1930 to 1935. He represented Montmagny in the Legislative Assembly of Quebec as a Nationalist member from 1908 to 1916. His surname also appears as La Vergne.
He was born in Arthabaska, Quebec in 1880, the son of Joseph Lavergne [1] and Émilie Barthe, who was the daughter of Joseph-Guillaume Barthe. Lavergne studied at the Collège Sacré-Coeur at Arthabaska, the Séminaire de Québec, the University of Ottawa and Université Laval; he later studied in Paris. He articled in law, was called to the bar in 1903 and set up practice at Quebec City and then Montmagny. In 1903, he helped found the Ligue nationaliste canadienne. Lavergne directed Le Courrier at Montmagny and also contributed to Le Nationaliste, edited by Olivar Asselin, and Le Devoir, edited by Henri Bourassa.
He was elected to the House of Commons in an 1904 by-election and reelected in the general election later that year. He was expelled from the Liberal Party by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1907 and he resigned from his seat the following year. In 1904, he had married Georgette, the daughter of Philippe-Honoré Roy, a member of the Quebec assembly. He was named King's Counsel in 1918. He ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate for a seat in the House of Commons in 1917 and 1921 before joining the federal Conservatives in 1925. He was deputy speaker and chairman of committees from 1930 to 1935. Lavergne also served as lieutenant-colonel in the militia.
Lavergne opposed the use of conscription during the First World War, was an ardent defender of French language rights outside of Quebec and lobbied for more French-Canadian participation in the federal civil service.
In 1935, he published an autobiography, Trente ans de vie nationale.
Lavergne died in office at Ottawa in 1935 and was buried at Arthabaska.
[edit] Son of Laurier?
Though never firmly proven, there is a substantial amount of conjecture that Armand Lavergne was the son of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. It was widely speculated that his mother, Emilie, had a long standing extramarital affair with her husband's law practice partner, Laurier. Photographs of a young Armand bear an uncanny facial resemblance to Laurier [2].
[edit] References
- ^ Some have speculated that Lavergne's biological father was actually Sir Wilfrid Laurier [1]
