The wealthy philanthropist Jacqueline Desmarais died

Photo archive

QMI agency

Saturday, march 3, 2018 10:05

UPDATE
Saturday, march 3, 2018 10:05

Look at this article

Jacqueline Desmarais, a wealthy philanthropist and the widow of Paul Desmarais, who died Saturday at the age of 89 years.

It is his family who made the announcement by press release without specifying the causes of his death.

“A funeral a private family will take place in the next few days and will be followed by a memorial service in which the date will be announced by the Desmarais family”, a-t-we indicated in the press release.

Born in Sudbury, Ontario, Ms. Desmarais was a widow since 2013. Her husband had been the great patron and founder of Power Corporation, which has in particular The newspaper la Presse and the insurer Great-West, in addition to being active on the international financial stage.

The “Forbes” magazine estimates that in 2015 the personal fortune of Mrs. Desmarais to 4.2 billion US$.

Passionate about opera and music, Ms. Desmarais has been actively involved as a patron with young talent throughout his life. It also provided support to many arts organizations including the Opera de Montréal, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal.

She has supported in addition to a number of causes, including that of homeless women together with the creation of a new emergency shelter in Montreal in 2015, which is named as “Home of Jacqueline”.

She was the mother of Andrew and Paul, who are directors of Power Corporation.

Reactions

The reactions were not long in following the announcement of the death. The mayor of Montréal, Valérie Plante, has pointed to his memory by calling it “a great philanthropist who has done so much for the cultural scene in montreal”.

“Jacqueline Desmarais has marked our cultural community by his great passion for the artists and her great generosity,” said on his side on Twitter, the minister of Heritage Mélanie Joly.

The Orchestre Métropolitain and its conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin, has released a long statement in which they spoke of the memory of a “patron of passion for music in all its forms”.

“His unfailing love for the artists and his flair for unique talent has mentored many to success. His work has many implications on the generations to come,” said Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who will also become head of the New York Metropolitan Opera starting next fall.