Pierre Sévigny
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph Pierre Albert Sévigny, PC, OC, CD, VM, ED, BA, B.Comm (September 12, 1917 – March 20, 2004) was a Canadian soldier, author, politician, and academic. He is best known for his involvement in the Munsinger Affair.
Born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of Albert Sévigny, the Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons in 1916, he graduated from Laval University and Columbia University. Sévigny served in the Canadian Army during World War II, reaching the rank of lieutenant-colonel, where he lost a leg. He was awarded the Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military decoration. He also received France's Croix de Guerre and Belgium's Croix de Guerre. After the war he wrote a book Face à l’ennemi about his experiences. It won won the Prix Ferrières de l’Academie Française in 1948.
He was elected to the House of Commons in the 1958 election, representing the electoral district of Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher, and served as Associate Defence Minister in the Progressive Conservative government of John Diefenbaker. He was reelected in the 1962 election, but was defeated in the 1963 vote. He was later involved in the Munsinger Affair, a sex scandal in which it was revealed that Sévigny had been sexually involved with Gerda Munsinger, a Soviet spy. A judicial inquiry later absolved him of any guilt.
In 1967, he started teaching business administration at Concordia University eventually becoming Executive-in-Residence in 1982. He retired in 1995 but returned two years later as a visiting assistant professor. In 1965, he wrote his second book This Game of Politics (McClelland and Stewart).
Later, in 1978, Sévigny and Camil Samson founded the shortlived political party Les Démocrates in Quebec.
Sévigny was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1994.
He died in Montreal in 2004.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- CBC.ca Eye of Cold War storm, Sévigny dead at 86
- Order of Canada Citation
- Political Biography from the Library of Parliament
| Parliament of Canada | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Auguste Vincent |
Member of Parliament for Longueuil 1957–1963 |
Succeeded by Jean-Pierre Côté |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Paul Theodore Hellyer |
Associate Minister of National Defence 1959–1963 |
Succeeded by Louis-Joseph-Lucien Cardin |
Categories: 1917 births | 2004 deaths | Members of the 18th Ministry in Canada | Members of the Canadian House of Commons from Quebec | Progressive Conservative Party of Canada MPs | Members of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada | Canadian people of World War II | Croix de guerre recipients | Recipients of Virtuti Militari | Concordia University | People from Quebec City | French Quebecers | Officers of the Order of Canada | Politicians with physical disabilities | Canadian amputees | Columbia University alumni | Laval University alumni
