Jean Lesage was a Canadian lawyer and politician from Quebec. He served as the 19th premier of Quebec from July 5, 1960, to June 16, 1966. Alongside Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and others, he is often viewed as the father of the Quiet Revolution. Quebec City International Airport was officially named in his honour on March 31, 1994, and a provincial electoral district, Jean-Lesage, was named for him as well.
Lesage, 1967
Lesage as a young lawyer
Jean Lesage (left) with Mayor of Montreal Jean Drapeau (right) in June 1964
René Lévesque was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to seek, through a referendum, a mandate to negotiate the political independence of Quebec. Starting his career as a reporter, and radio and television host, he later became known for his eminent role in Quebec's nationalization of hydro-electric companies and as an ardent defender of Quebec sovereignty. He was the founder of the Parti Québécois, and before that, a Liberal minister in the Lesage government from 1960 to 1966.
Lévesque in 1961
During World War II with the U.S. Office of War Information
Lévesque interviews Lester Pearson, External Affairs Minister, in Moscow in 1955
Lévesque sculpture in front of the Quebec Parliament Building