Jacqueline Desmarais, OC GOQ (September 20, 1928 – March 3, 2018) was a Canadian billionaire, and long-term supporter of music and opera.
Jacqueline Desmarais | |
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Born | Jacqueline Maranger September 20, 1928 Sudbury, Ontario, Canada |
Died | March 3, 2018 | (aged 89)
Known for | Philanthropy |
Spouse | Paul Desmarais (1953-2013; his death) |
Children | 4, including Paul Jr. and André |
She was born Jacqueline Maranger in Sudbury, Ontario, to Ernest Marenger and Albertine Thanase, on September 20, 1928.[1][2]
According to Forbes, Desmarais had a net worth of $4.2 billion in January 2015.[3]
She was a long-term supporter of music and opera in Canada, and head of the guild of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 1989 to 1999. In 1997, she created a foundation in her name to support young opera singers.[2]
On September 8, 1953,[1] at Notre-de-Dame-de-Grâce, Quebec, she wed the financier Paul Desmarais (1927-2013), also a native of Sudbury.
They had two sons: Paul Jr. and André (who is married to Canadian former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's daughter France) and two daughters, Sophie and Louise.[7]
Jacqueline Desmarais lived on a 75-acre estate at Domaine Laforest à Sagard, Charlevoix, Quebec, until her death in 2018.[3]