Charles Lalemant

Charles Lalemant, Jesuit missionary, first superior of the Jesuits at Québec (b at Paris, France 17 Nov 1587; d there 18 Nov 1674), brother of Jérôme Lalemant. He organized the first Jesuit mission to Canada in 1625, returning to France in 1627 to counter the objections of merchants and Protestants to mission work. He came back to Canada in 1634, having been taken prisoner of war and shipwrecked twice in the meantime. He ministered to the French immigrants at Québec until 1638 when he returned to Paris to serve as first procurator of the missions of New France until 1650, a period when missions and fur trade were complementary. He brought together dévots of the Compagnie du Saint-Sacrement who organized the Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal, founders of the utopian colony of Ville-Marie on Montréal I in 1642. In addition to many letters, he wrote a devotional treatise on the Eucharist.