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Alphonse Desjardins (co-operator)

 
Alphonse Desjardins (co Operator)

 
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Alphonse Desjardins (co-operator)
 
 
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Gabriel-Alphonse Desjardins (November 5 1854 - October 31 1920), born in Lévis, Quebec
Lévis, Quebec

L?vis is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, opposite Quebec City. A ferry links Old Quebec with Old L?vis, and two bridges, the Quebec Bridge and the Pierre Laporte Bridge, connect western L?vis with Quebec City....
, was the co-founder of the Caisses Populaires Desjardins (today Desjardins Group), a forerunner of North American credit unions and community banks.

iel-Alphonse Desjardins was a journalist at L'écho
L'Echo

L'Echo is a Belgium newspaper, published by Mediafin and mainly distributed in Wallonia and Brussels. It is the French language counterpart of the Flanders daily De Tijd....
 and Le Canadien
Le Canadien

Le Canadien was a French language newspaper published in Lower Canada from November 22, 1806 to March 14, 1810. Its motto was: "Nos institutions, notre langue et nos droits" ....
 until 1879. He was publisher of Débats de la législature du Québec from 1879 to 1890, and French-language parliamentary stenographer at the House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Canadian monarchy and the Senate of Canada. The House of Commons is a democracy elected body, consisting of 40th Canadian Parliament known as Members of Parliament ....
 from 1892 to 1917.

897 Desjardins became increasingly concerned with the problem of usury
Usury

Usury originally meant the charging of interest on loans. This would have included charging a fee for the use of money, such as at a bureau de change....
 and undertook three years of careful research and correspondence with the founders of cooperative savings and credit movements in Europe.






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Gabriel-Alphonse Desjardins (November 5 1854 - October 31 1920), born in Lévis, Quebec
Lévis, Quebec

L?vis is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, opposite Quebec City. A ferry links Old Quebec with Old L?vis, and two bridges, the Quebec Bridge and the Pierre Laporte Bridge, connect western L?vis with Quebec City....
, was the co-founder of the Caisses Populaires Desjardins (today Desjardins Group), a forerunner of North American credit unions and community banks.

Early life

Gabriel-Alphonse Desjardins was a journalist at L'écho
L'Echo

L'Echo is a Belgium newspaper, published by Mediafin and mainly distributed in Wallonia and Brussels. It is the French language counterpart of the Flanders daily De Tijd....
 and Le Canadien
Le Canadien

Le Canadien was a French language newspaper published in Lower Canada from November 22, 1806 to March 14, 1810. Its motto was: "Nos institutions, notre langue et nos droits" ....
 until 1879. He was publisher of Débats de la législature du Québec from 1879 to 1890, and French-language parliamentary stenographer at the House of Commons
Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Canadian monarchy and the Senate of Canada. The House of Commons is a democracy elected body, consisting of 40th Canadian Parliament known as Members of Parliament ....
 from 1892 to 1917.

The beginnings of Caisses populaires

Maison Alphonse Desjardins
In 1897 Desjardins became increasingly concerned with the problem of usury
Usury

Usury originally meant the charging of interest on loans. This would have included charging a fee for the use of money, such as at a bureau de change....
 and undertook three years of careful research and correspondence with the founders of cooperative savings and credit movements in Europe. On December 6, 1900 Desjardins and his wife, Dorimène Roy Desjardins
Dorimène Roy Desjardins

Marie-Clara Dorim?ne Roy Desjardins and her husband Alphonse Desjardins were co-founders of the Caisses populaires Desjardins , a forerunner of North American credit unions....
, co-founded the first Caisse d'épargne Desjardins in Lévis and opened for business the following month. Later renamed Caisses populaires Desjardins (and today Desjardins Group), the organization was a forerunner of current North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
n credit union
Credit union

A credit union is a Cooperative banking financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members, and operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit at reasonable rates, and providing other financial services to its members....
s.

Caisse populaire is a synthesis of four popular savings and credit systems established in Germany, Italy and France: the caisse d'épargne, the Schulze-Delitzsch
Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch

Franz Hermann Schulze-Delitzsch , Germany economist, was born at Delitzsch, in Prussian Saxony. The place-name Delitzsch was added in 1848 to distinguish him from other Schulzes in the National Assembly....
 bank, the Raiffeisen
Raiffeisen

Raiffeisen Zentralbank is a co-operative bank based and founded in Austria and operating throughout central and eastern Europe."Raiffeisen" is a reference to Friedrich Wilhelm Raiffeisen, the founder of the co-operative movement of credit unions....
 credit co-operative and the Luzzatti popular bank. Desjardins stayed in close contact with many of the founders of the European co-operative movement throughout his life.

From 1900 to 1906, Desjardins founded just three other caisses populaires: Lauzon
Lauzon, Quebec

Lauzon is a former city in southern Quebec, Canada, located on the St. Lawrence River northeast of L?vis, Quebec. Founded in 1910, Lauzon had a population of about 14,500 when it merged with L?vis, Quebec in 1989....
 (1902), Hull
Hull, Quebec

Hull is the central and oldest part of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa....
 (1903), and Saint-Malo, Québec
Quebec

Quebec , in French language, Qu?bec , is a Provinces and territories of Canada in the Central Canada and Eastern Canada regions of Canada....
 (1905). After failing to get a federal law passed in Ottawa
Ottawa

Ottawa is the Capital of Canada. The city has population of 812,000, the List of the 100 largest municipalities in Canada by population municipality in the country and second largest in Ontario....
 that would provide a Canadian-wide framework for more such organizations, Desjardins turned his efforts, with the collaboration of journalists and priests, to founding more caisses. During the 1907-1914 period, Desjardins personally founded 146 caisses.

At the time of his death in 1920, there were 187 caisses populaires in Québec
Quebec

Quebec , in French language, Qu?bec , is a Provinces and territories of Canada in the Central Canada and Eastern Canada regions of Canada....
 (30,000 members and total assets of nearly $6 million), 24 in Ontario
Ontario

Ontario is a Provinces and territories of Canada located in the Central Canada part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area....
 and 9 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
.

Alphonse and Dorimène Desjardins' home, where the first caisse populaire was launched, is now a center dedicated to his memory and has been visited by over 178,000 people from 115 countries since its opening in 1982.

See also

  • Dorimène Roy Desjardins
    Dorimène Roy Desjardins

    Marie-Clara Dorim?ne Roy Desjardins and her husband Alphonse Desjardins were co-founders of the Caisses populaires Desjardins , a forerunner of North American credit unions....
  • Desjardins Group
  • Credit union history
    Credit union history

    Credit unions are community-based banks organized according to Rochdale Principles. In the early stages of development of a nation's financial system, unserved and underserved populations must rely on risky and expensive informal economy financial services from sources like money lenders, ROSCAs and saving at home....


External links

  • at collections.ic.gc.ca
  • at www.desjardins.com
  • at www.desjardins.com