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Marie-Louise Lacoste

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Marie-Louise Lacoste
Photograph of a short-haired woman wearing a highly decorative frock featuring trapunto quilting, over a lace bodice.
Lady Lacoste, 1903
Born
Marie-Louise Sophie-Elmina Globensky

(1849-02-02)2 February 1849
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died11 December 1919(1919-12-11) (aged 70)
Montreal, Quebec
NationalityCanadian
Other namesLady Lacoste, Marie Lacoste, Marie Globensky Lacoste
Occupationphilanthropist

Marie-Louise Globensky, Lady Lacoste, (2 February 1849 – 11 December 1919) was a French-speaking Canadian philanthropist and diarist from the province of Quebec. She served as patroness for schools and orphans' homes, and for several hospitals, including Sanite Justine (founded by her daughter Justine Lacoste-Beaubien), Hôpital Notre-Dame, and the Youville Foundling Hospital. Globensky was president of many benevolent societies, such as Château Ramezay and the Asile de la Providence. Appointed by her daughter Marie Lacoste Gérin-Lajoie, she served as vice-president of the Conseil des femmes de Montréal [fr] (Montreal Council of Women) and supported women's suffrage, as long as social order was maintained. She also joined the National Federation of Saint John the Baptist [fr], served on its board, and helped develop programs designed to help working women. A prolific diarist, her journals have contributed to the knowledge of how 19th-Century middle class women dealt with the social structures of their times.

Early life

Marie-Louise Sophie-Elmina Globensky, as she was christened on 3 February 1849 at Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal, was born on 2 February 1849 to of Marguerite Angélique (née Limoges) and Sir Léon Globensky.[1][2] Her father was a prominent merchant, of Polish heritage, who later became a custom's officer.[3][4] Her grandfather, August Franz Globensky was a Polish-German physician who had been hired by the British army as a mercenary to suppress colonial rebels during American Revolutionary War.[5] She was a childhood friend of Eliza Chauveau, daughter of Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau. The two girls enjoyed spending time together embroidering, studying, snowshoeing, playing games, and praying.[6] Her activities, which were highlighted in her juvenile diary, indicate that she participated in typical activities like music lessons and social engagements, as well as document her piety and regular attendance at church.[4]

On 8 May 1866, at Notre-Dame Basilica, Globensky married Alexandre Lacoste, whom she had met three months earlier at a social engagement.[7][8][9] At the time of their marriage, Alexandre had graduated from Laval University and was practicing law. He would become Queen's Counsel in 1880 and later serve as speaker of the Senate, Chief Justice of Quebec, and as professor of law at his alma mater.[10][9] In 1889, he was knighted and his wife officially was known thereafter as Lady Lacoste.[7] In 1892, he was raised to Knight Bachelor.[10] The couple would have 13 children:[11] Marie (1867–1945),[12] Louis Joseph (1869–1909),[13] Marie Josephine Angelique Henriette (1870–1871),[11][14] Blanche (1872–1957),[15] Paul (1875–1945),[16] Justine (1877–1967), Jeanne (1879–1962),[17] Yvonne (1881–1947),[18] Alexandre (1883–1940),[19] Joseph Eugene Arthur (1885–1888),[20][21] Thaïs (1886–1963),[22] Berthe (1889–1966),[23] and Henri Rene (1891–1892).[11][21]

Lacoste lost four of her children in their infancy and wrote of her grief in her private journals.[11] Her periods of mourning over the loss of her children were motivating factors for her daughters' dedication to improving the lives of women and children.[21] Her diaries have given historians a rare look into how emotions impacted lives of women in her social class during her era.[11] Both Alexandre and Lady Lacoste were from conservative and ultramontanist backgrounds, but they both also admired and supported the British crown. They raised their children in a hybrid environment, respecting British customs, but maintaining strong ties to their French language and culture.[24] As was typical for women in her time, her life was divided between family responsibility, social obligations, charitable works, and obligations to the church.[21] While she raised her children with strict Victorian morals, refusing to allow them to ride bicycles and requiring them to attend church, Lacoste indulged their theatrical interest, encouraging them to participate in dramatic productions.[25]

Charitable works

A page of eleven portraits of women who were board members of the National Federation of Saint-Jean-Baptiste of Montreal
Lady Lacoste, 2nd row first photograph on the left as one of the Board of Directors of the National Federation of Saint-Jean-Baptiste of Montreal in 1907.

Lacoste was very involved in benevolent events, often serving as patroness for balls used to raise funds for charitable works.[26][27][28] She spent her days caring for the poor, the infirm, and orphans, providing them with food, clothing and shelter.[29] In an effort to combat the hostility of the clergy to the radical ideas of women's suffrage, Marie Lacoste Gérin-Lajoie, appointed her mother, who was well-known for her philanthropy, to serve as vice president of the Montreal Local Council of Women when it was formed in 1893.[30] Lady Lacoste supported women's suffrage,[6] as long as it did not upset the social order, but was not a radical like her daughter, Gérin-Lajoie, in fighting for women's rights.[31][32] She supported several schools[6] and served on the board of the Ladies Antiquarian Society in various capacities, including serving as president in 1907.[33][34]

From 1905 to 1906 Lacoste was president of Château Ramezay and also served as president of various other benevolent societies including the Asile de la Providence and the Lady Patronesses of the Hôpital Notre-Dame.[6] In 1907, she was convinced by Gérin-Lajoie to become active in the National Federation of Saint John the Baptist [fr]. Along with Caroline Dessaulles-Béique, she would serve on the organizational board and help develop programs to support domestic workers in forming mutual aid societies and obtain training in managing a household.[35] Also in 1907, she became a patron and co-founder of the Sainte Justine Hospital, the first children's hospital in Quebec, which had been organized by her daughter Justine Lacoste-Beaubien.[6]

The Lacostes celebrated their golden anniversary in 1916 and were feted in a large gathering of family and friends.[2] She organized fund-raising for the Youville Foundling Hospital.[36] During World War I, she was engaged with the French Canadian Committee of Montreal, which raised funds to assist prisoners of war.[6] She remained active in patriotic and philanthropic endeavors until her death,[37] noting in her diary the night before she died that she had been able to secure housing for four orphans.[29]

Death and legacy

Lacoste died suddenly on 11 December 1919 at her home.[37][38] Her funeral, attended largely by society figures and dignitaries, took place at Saint-Jacques Cathedral on 15 December and she was interred at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.[39][40] At the time of her death, she was remembered for her charitable endeavors, but she has become more known for her writing.[37][41] Lacoste was a prolific diarist who began writing at around 15, and the suspended activity until she was 39. She wrote 25 journals prior to her death at age 70.[42] Few women's diaries are known from this period in Quebec,[21] and Lacoste's have been used to help develop the historiography of emotions of 19th century Québécoise women.[43] Her diaries are housed at the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec.[41] Sophie Doucet has published various articles, including a PhD thesis, evaluating how joy, sadness, and love were demonstrated by Lacoste a devout French-Canadian Catholic in her writings.[44] Novelist Sylvie Gobeil also wrote a historical novel, Lady Lacoste, to bring the story of Lacoste's life out of obscurity.[41]

Despite Lacoste's rigid and puritanical characteristics, she did not impose these on her children.[45] Her daughters credited her for being open and encouraging them to be empowered and engaged in society.[41] Her daughter Marie married Henri Gérin-Lajoie and became a pioneering feminist and suffragist in Canada.[12] Her son Louis, worked in the Quebec Court of Appeal and invented a ship brake that was used by both the Canadian and US governments on vessels.[13] Paul became a lawyer, served as King's Counsel and batonnier-general of the Bar of Quebec.[16] Justine married Louis de Gaspé Beaubien[9] and was the principal founder of Sainte Justine Hospital, the first French Canadian hospital for children in Montreal. Justine served on the boards of numerous hospital associations and advisory councils.[45][46] Alexandre, like his brother Paul, was an attorney and served as King's Counsel.[19] Thaïs married lawyer Charles Frémont and was a prominent journalist, speaker, and women's rights activist.[22] She served as the inaugural president of the Association of Conservative Women of Quebec and in 1932 became the first female delegate sent by the Prime Minister R. B. Bennett to represent Canada at the League of Nations.[45] Berthe married Jean Hayward Dansereau and owned and operated a successful catering business in Montreal, refusing to become idle after her husband's early death.[22][23][45]

Selected works

  • Lacoste, Marie-Louise, Lady (1994). Le journal intime, 1864–1866, de Lady Lacoste, née Marie-Louise Globensky, 1849–1919 (in French). Montréal, Quebec: Éditions de la Coste. ISBN 978-2-9804439-0-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

References

Citations

  1. ^ Baptismal Records 1849, p. 24B.
  2. ^ a b The Gazette 1916, p. 5.
  3. ^ Gibbon 1939, pp. 269–270.
  4. ^ a b Smart 2017, p. 123.
  5. ^ Pelletier-Baillargeon 1985, p. 67.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Mathieu 2012, p. 19.
  7. ^ a b Smart 2017, p. 126.
  8. ^ Marriage Records 1866, p. 364B.
  9. ^ a b c Morgan 1903, p. 191.
  10. ^ a b The StarPhoenix 1923, p. 20.
  11. ^ a b c d e Doucet 2013.
  12. ^ a b Kuhlman 2002, p. 65.
  13. ^ a b The Gazette 1909b, p. 14.
  14. ^ Baptismal Records 1870, p. 466A.
  15. ^ The Gazette 1957, p. 33.
  16. ^ a b The Gazette 1945, p. 12.
  17. ^ The Gazette 1962, p. 43.
  18. ^ The Gazette 1947, p. 12.
  19. ^ a b The Gazette 1940, p. 14.
  20. ^ Death Records 1888, p. 271A.
  21. ^ a b c d e Doucet 2011.
  22. ^ a b c Girard 2015.
  23. ^ a b The Gazette 1966, p. 49.
  24. ^ Pelletier-Baillargeon 1985, p. 68.
  25. ^ Pelletier-Baillargeon 1985, p. 69.
  26. ^ The Gazette 1900, p. 7.
  27. ^ The Gazette 1908b, p. 11.
  28. ^ The Gazette 1909a, p. 4.
  29. ^ a b Doucet 2017, p. 26.
  30. ^ Pinard 1983, pp. 183–184.
  31. ^ Pelletier-Baillargeon 1985, p. 76.
  32. ^ Doucet 2017, p. 29.
  33. ^ The Gazette 1899, p. 3.
  34. ^ The Gazette 1908a, p. 8.
  35. ^ Pelletier-Baillargeon 1985, p. 60.
  36. ^ The Gazette 1918, p. 3.
  37. ^ a b c The Gazette 1919a, p. 4.
  38. ^ The Gazette 1919c, p. 8.
  39. ^ The Gazette 1919b, p. 9.
  40. ^ Doucet 2019b, p. 116.
  41. ^ a b c d Bornais 2018.
  42. ^ Doucet 2017, p. 8.
  43. ^ Doucet 2017, p. 6.
  44. ^ Doucet 2011; Doucet 2013; Doucet 2017, p. 5–29; Doucet 2019a; Doucet 2019b.
  45. ^ a b c d Pelletier-Baillargeon 1985, p. 66.
  46. ^ The Gazette 1967, p. 45.

Bibliography

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