Maisonneuve, Paul de Chomedey de, 1612-1676

Paul de Chomedey, Sieur de Maisonneuve was a French aristocrat, a military officer and the founder and first governor of Montreal. He was born on 15 February 1612 in Neuville-sur-Vannes, France, the son of Louis de Chomedey, seigneur of Chavane, Germenoy-en-Brie and his wife, Marie de Thomelin. He began his military career at the age of 13, in Holland. In 1642, he was commissioned to escort and lead a colony on the Island of Montreal by Jérome Le Royer de La Dauversière, who founded the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal with the goal of bringing missionary work to Canada. Despite some opposition and warnings from residents of Quebec City, Ville-Marie was founded later that year in the southern part of the island, where they built a small settlement, a chapel, and a hospital founded by Jeanne Mance. Maisonneuve became the first governor of Montreal. During the period of his governorship, the settlers were in frequent violent conflict with the Kanien'kehá:ka, an Indigenous nation part of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy who lived in the area, especially south of Montreal into what is now called New York State. According to one story, Maisonneuve shot and killed a Kanien'kehá:ka leader during one conflict. Because of the violence, it was difficult to attract more colonizers to settle in Montreal. In 1652, the settler population had dropped to about 50 people. Maisonneuve returned to France and brought 100 new settlers to Montreal in 1653. Eventually, with increased military presence sent by the French government, the colony grew and administration of Montreal was transferred to the government of New France. Maisonneuve did not have a good relationship with the new administrators and was forced to return to France in 1665. He lived quietly in Paris for the rest of his life, and died there on 9 September 1676.

Dates of activity and biographical details based on content of the collection and an entry in the Canadian Dictionary of Biography: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/chomedey_de_maisonneuve_paul_de_1E.html