Ouimet, Gédéon, 1823-1905

Gedeon Ouimet was born June 2, 1823, in Sainte-Rose, Laval, Quebec.

He was a French-Canadian politician. He studied at the Seminary of Saint-Hyacinthe and the College of Montreal. After studying law, he was admitted to the bar of Quebec in 1844. He was created Queen’s Counsel in 1868. He became president of the bar of Montreal in 1869 and of the bar of the province of Quebec in 1870. Ouimet served as the second premier of Quebec from February 26, 1873, to September 22, 1874. He resigned as the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec in 1874 because of the Tanneries scandal implicating the government of Quebec. He was appointed to the Legislative Council of Quebec in 1895. Ouimet was the founder of École Polytechnique de Montréal. He served as President of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society of Montreal (1869-1870), President of l’Institut Canadien-français de Montréal (1872), and Mayor of Vaudreuil (1852-1854). The Quebec town of Grandmont changed its name to Saint-Gédéon in honour of Ouimet.

In 1852, he married Marie Jeanne Pellant (1827–1905). He died on April 23, 1905, in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Monteregie, Quebec.