Description
Quebec 1924 Lieutenant Governor Narcisse Perodeau (1924-29) 49.4mm silver medal 56.2 grams Clowery 11
Obverse: Perodeau facing left, NARCISSE PERDEAU LIEUTENAT-GOUVERNEUR DE LA PROVINCE DE QUEBEC1924
Reverse: Shield within wreath LABOR PROBITAS ET DECOR plaque below
Edge: CARON FRERES STERLING
Freeman Clowery in his book the Medals of Lieutenant Governors of Canada estimates that during the five years of issue that approximately 65 per year were issued.
Narcisse Pérodeau (March 26, 1851 – November 18, 1932)[1] was a lawyer, financier, politician, professor and the 14th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. He was born in Saint-Ours, Quebec and died in Montreal.
After several years of private practice, Pérodeau taught law at Laval University from 1898 to 1930. He was also active in finance as vice-president of La Sauvegarde insurance company and serving on the boards of the Mount Royal Assurance Company, the Trans-Canada Insurance Company and several other institutions.
He was appointed to the Legislative Council of Quebec (the upper house of the Quebec legislature) and represented Sorel from 1897 to 1924 as a supporter of the Liberal Party of Quebec.
In 1910, Pérodeau was appointed minister without portfolio in the cabinet of Premier Lomer Gouin. Premier Louis-Alexandre Taschereau promoted him to leader of the government in the Legislative Council in 1920. He served in this position until 1924, when he was appointed lieutenant-governor, an office he held from 10 Jan. 1924 to 10 Jan. 1929.
Pérodeau served as the King's representative in Quebec until 1929. He was then reappointed to the Legislative Council for the division of Montarville and rejoined the Taschereau cabinet in his former position as leader of government in the upper house.
He died in office at the age of 81 and was entombed at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery in Montreal.
Alfred Laliberté RCA (19 May 1877 – 13 January 1953) was a French Canadian sculptor and painter based in Montreal. His output includes more than 900 sculptures in bronze, marble, wood, and plaster. Many of his sculptures depict national figures and events in Canada and France such as Louis Hébert, François-Xavier-Antoine Labelle, Adam Dollard des Ormeaux, and the Lower Canada Rebellion. Although he produced hundreds of paintings as well, he is chiefly remembered for his work as a sculptor.
Born in Sainte-Élisabeth-de-Warwick, Quebec, in the district of Arthabaska, Laliberté was the son of Joseph Laliberté, a farmer, and Marie Richard. From an early age he began learning the agricultural trade and he initially intended on working in the family business. He began sculpting as a hobby at the age of 15. His work drew the attention of the Honourable Wilfrid Laurier who encouraged him to enter the Conseil des arts et manufactures (CAM) in Montreal. It was largely through Laurier's attention that Laliberté earned his father's approval to enter the CAM in 1896. In 1888 he won first prize at the Québec City Provincial Exhibition for his life size sculpture of Laurier.
In 1902, Laliberté entered the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris at the age of 23. While there he became friends with his compatriot, the painter Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté. He returned to Canada in 1907 where he began producing works that showed a marked influence of the sculptor Auguste Rodin.
In 1922, Laliberté joined the faculty of the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (now a part of the Université du Québec à Montréal). Alfred Laliberté co-founded the Sculptors Society of Canada in 1928 with Frances Loring, Florence Wyle, Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Wood's teacher and husband Emanuel Hahn and Henri Hébert. He was made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.
Between 1928 and 1932, he produced 215 small bronze sculptures depicting legends, customs and rural activities of the past and present history of the pioneers of Canada. On 22 June 1940, he married Jeanne Lavallee. He died in Montreal in 1953 and is buried in the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.
