Portrait of Jérôme Le Royer de La Dauversière

Jérôme Le Royer de La Dauversière was born in La Flèche (France) on May 18, 1597 and, like his father, became a tax collector. In 1636, he established a community of nursing Sisters dedicated to Saint Joseph. With ardent religious devotion, he set in motion the missionary project of Ville-Marie (Montreal). After his meeting with Jean-Jacques Olier in Paris in 1639, he joined a group of pious individuals which became the Société de Notre-Dame de Montréal. In the spring of 1641, he recruited the first settlers to establish themselves in Ville-Marie in 1642 under the direction of Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve. De la Dauversière died on November 6, 1659.