TASCHEREAU, ELZÉAR-ALEXANDRE. - Cardinal, b. at Ste-Marie de la Beauce (Province of Quebec) on 17 Feb. 1820, d. at Quebec on 12 Apr. 1896.
Descended from an ancient family of Tournai which had emigrated to Canada in the second decade of the 18th century, he began his studies at the Seminary of Quebec in 1828. In 1847 he began his work in aid of Irish emigrants struck by typhus at Grosse Island; having escaped death, he came to Rome, where in 1856 he obtained a doctorate in canon law. Appointed in 1860 superior of the Seminary of Quebec and rector of Laval University, he then took part in the Ecumenical Council of 1870. Consecrated Archbishop of Quebec the following year, he was created a cardinal in 1886, an event which occasioned great demonstrations of joy and profound marks of deference. In 1882 he had published *Remarques sur le Mémoire de l'évêque de Trois Rivières sur les difficultés religieuses en Canada*.