McGill Libraries
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Montreal, Quebec
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Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Robitaille, Theodore, 1834-1897
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1834-1897
History
Hon. Theodore Robitaille was born on January 29, 1834, in Varennes, Quebec.
He was a Canadian physician and politician. He studied in the United States, at the Petit Séminaire de Sainte-Thérèse, and at the Université Laval. He graduated in medicine from McGill College in 1858 and settled in New Carlisle, Quebec. In 1861, he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada for the riding of Bonaventure. A Conservative, he represented this riding for 18 years, holding the federal seat from 1867 until 1879 as well as the provincial seat from 1871 until 1874. In 1873, he was appointed Receiver General of Canada. From 1879 to 1884, he was the 4th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. During his tenure, he commissioned Calixa Lavallée and Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier to prepare the music and French lyrics to what would become Canada's national anthem, O Canada. In 1885, he was appointed to the Senate representing the senatorial division of Gulf, Quebec and served until he died in 1897.
In 1867, he married Marie Joséphine Charlotte Emma Quesnel. He died on August 17, 1897, in New Carlisle, Quebec.