Alphonse Desjardins (member of the cooperative)
Gabriel-Alphonse Desjardins (born November 5, 1854 in Lévis , Québec ; † April 19, 1920 ibid) was a co-founder of the Caisses Desjardins , the first North American cooperative bank.
Life
After studying economics at the Lévis College and the Québec Military School, Desjardins entered the military for two years in 1869 and then took part in a military expedition until he returned to Lévis in 1872 to pursue a career as a journalist. For the next few years he worked as a journalist for the newspapers L'écho and Le Canadien , until in 1878 he decided to devote his work to publishing the speeches of the National Assembly of Québec. In 1889, however, the funds for the publishing activities of Déjardins were cut by the government, whereby he suddenly lost his job.
At the age of 35 he founded the newspaper L'Union Canadienne in Lévis in 1891 , but it only lasted for a short time. However, his close ties with the Conservative Party enabled him to join the Canadian House of Commons on April 22, 1892 as a French stenographer for the Canadian Parliament. He held this office until 1917, when he fell ill with incurable urine poisoning.
Alphonse Desjardins died on October 31, 1920 at the age of 65 from his illness.
The beginnings of the Caisses populaires
In 1897 Desjardins became increasingly concerned about the usury practice and began extensive research into the cooperative savings and credit movements that had developed in the early days of Europe . To this end, he entered into intensive correspondence with the pioneers of the cooperative movement, including the German cooperative pioneers Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen and Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch and the Italian economist Luigi Luzzatti .
On December 6, 1900 he finally founded the first savings bank Caisse d'épargne Desjardins in Lévis with his wife Dorimène Roy-Desjardins .
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| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Desjardins, Alphonse |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Desjardins, Gabriel-Alphonse |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian journalist, co-founder of Caisses Desjardins bank |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 5, 1854 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lévis , Québec |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 19, 1920 |
| Place of death | Lévis , Québec |