Jeanne-Mathilde Sauvé

Studied at Collège Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire in Ottawa, universities of Ottawa and Paris; served as national president of the Young Catholic Students Group (1942-1947); married Maurice Sauvé (1948), who later was a member of Parliament (1962-1968) and forestry minister (1964-1968); began her career as a free-lance journalist; was elected to Parliament, representing the Montréal riding of Ahuntsic (1972-1979) and the riding of Laval-des-Rapides (1979-1984); was one of the founders (1972) of the Institute of Political Research, a government-sponsored agency formed to advise the federal cabinet; occupied the posts of minister of state in charge of science and technology (1972-1974), minister of the environment (1974-1975), minister of communications (1975-1979) in the federal government; assumed the role as adviser to the secretary of state for external affairs, before she was elected as the first woman Speaker of the House of Commons (14 Apr 1980 - 1984); was actively engaged in the reform of the administration of the House; as Governor General, adopted a more formal approach than her predecessor; angered some when she closed to the public the gardens and lawns of Rideau Hall, the official residence.