Browse "People"

Yvon Deschamps, actor, comedian (b at Montréal 1935) left school early and worked at Radio-Canada as a messenger before taking private drama lessons from Paul Buissonneau. Deschamps played his first roles at the Théâtre Universitaire Canadien with Paul Hébert in 1958-59.

Yvon Dumont, CM, OM, Métis leader, lieutenant-governor of Manitoba (born 21 January 1951 at St. Laurent, Manitoba, a mostly Métis community northwest of Winnipeg). Dumont became involved in Indigenous politics as a teenager and, throughout his career, held senior positions in the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF), the Native Council of Canada (now the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples) and the Métis National Council (MNC). As MNC president in 1986, Dumont participated in the defeat of the Charlottetown Accord. On 5 March 1993, he was sworn in as the lieutenant-governor of Manitoba, the first Métis person in Canadian history to hold a vice-regal office. Yvon Dumont was a successful appellant in the 2013 Supreme Court of Canada land claims case Manitoba Métis Federation vs. Canada. This case helped bring about the signing of a memorandum of understanding in May 2016 between the Canadian government and the MMF to “advance exploratory talks on reconciliation.” Dumont remains a proponent of recognizing the Métis people as a distinct Indigenous population.

Yvon Durelle (the Fighting Fisherman), boxer (born 14 October 1929 in Baie-Sainte-Anne, NB; died 6 January 2007 in Moncton, NB). Yvon Durelle was an Acadian boxer. A heavy-handed power puncher, Durelle was Canadian middleweight champion (1953) and light heavyweight champion (1953–57); as well as British Empire light heavyweight champion (1957). In 1958, he earned international fame for a legendary 11-round slugfest against defending world champion Archie Moore at the Forum in Montreal. Durelle had a career record of 88 wins (49 by knockout), 24 losses and two draws. He was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame, the Maritime Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame. He died at 77 following a years-long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Yvon Lafrance, author and philosopher (born 1 December 1930 in Montréal, QC; died 21 August 2014 in Montréal, QC). Lafrance was recognized internationally as a world specialist on Plato.

Yvonne Madelaine Brill (née Claeys), rocket scientist (born 30 December 1924 in St. Vital, MB; died 27 March 2013 in Princeton, New Jersey). Yvonne Brill is known for her contributions to the advancement of rocket propulsion systems and designing rocket systems for space missions to the moon while keeping modern satellites in orbit. Although she was barred from pursuing an engineering degree because of her gender, Brill’s pioneering innovations are world-renowned.

Yvonne De Carlo, born Margaret Yvonne Middleton, actor (b at Vancouver 1 Sep 1922; d at Los Angeles, Ca 8 Jan 2007). Yvonne De Carlo attended King Edward High School in Vancouver and Le Conte Middle School in Hollywood.

Yvonne Hubert. Pianist, teacher, b Mouscron, Belgium, 28 May 1895, d Montreal 8 Jun 1988; premier prix piano (Lille Cons) 1906, premier prix piano (Paris Cons) 1911, honorary LLD (Concordia) 1981. She first took lessons at the Lille Cons.

Zacharias Kunuk, OC, filmmaker, carver, sculptor, visual artist (born 27 November 1957 in Kapuivik, Nunavut). An internationally acclaimed media maker, Zacharias Kunuk has played a crucial role in the redefinition of ethnographic filmmaking in Canada and has been at the forefront of the Inuit’s innovative use of broadcast technology. He is perhaps best known for his debut feature film, Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner), which won six Genie Awards (including Best Screenplay, Best Direction and Best Motion Picture) and was ranked the No. 1 Canadian film of all time in a 2015 poll conducted by the Toronto International Film Festival.

​Zacharie Vincent, known as Telariolin, was an Aboriginal artist (born 28 January 1815 in the village of Jeune-Lorette, Québec — formerly Village-Huron, today the Wendake Reserve; died 9 October 1886 in Québec City).

His early roles came in the form of a recurring character named Jayesh on the short-lived though surprisingly entertaining nighttime soap opera Metropia, and that of city councillor Shakil Khan on the revamped Da Vinci's City Hall.

Zara Nelsova, cellist, teacher (b at Winnipeg 23 Dec 1918; d at New York 10 Oct 2002) began playing a converted viola at the age of five with her father, a flutist and graduate of the Petrograd Conservatory.

Zara (b Sarah) Nelsova (b Nelson or Katznelson). Cellist, teacher, b Winnipeg 23 Dec 1918, naturalized US 1953, d New York 10 Oct 2002; honorary LLD (Winnipeg) 1985; honorary ARCT 1986; honorary D MUS (Smith College) 1992.

Zbigniew Stanislaw Basinski, physicist (born 28 April 1928 in Wolkowysk, Poland; died 12 August 1999). Recognized as the doyen of Canadian metal physics, he received the BSc, MA, DPhil and DSci degrees from Oxford, at the same time holding the post of research assistant in the department of metallurgy.

Zelda (b Cohen) Heller. Administrator, music and drama critic, b New Brunswick, NJ, 2 Dec 1922, died Victoria 4 Aug 2012, naturalized Canadian 1972; B SC (Juilliard) 1945, MA (Columbia) 1948.

Zeyda Suzuki (b Ruga). Pianist, teacher, b Havana, Cuba, 29 May l943. She gave her first concert at 5 for the JM in Cuba and then performed on radio and TV. She studied at the Havana Cons.

Zoe Ada Caldwell, OBE, actor, director (born 14 September 1933 in Hawthorn, Australia; died 16 February 2020 in Pound Ridge, New York). Zoe Caldwell was an Australian actor who began her career in England before moving to Canada in 1961. She became a prominent leading lady in Canadian theatre, starring in productions at the Stratford Festival, the Shaw Festival and the Manitoba Theatre Centre, as well as on CBC TV. She began performing in the United States in the 1960s and went on to win four Tony Awards, including three for plays produced by her husband, Montreal-born theatre producer Robert Whitehead. Caldwell was also an accomplished director. Her renown as an actor in both classical and modern productions garnered her the Theatre World Award (1966), the Order of the British Empire (1970) and the Bernard B. Jacobs Excellence in Theatre Award (1999).

Zoe Whittall, novelist, poet, journalist (b at South Durham, Que 16 Feb 1976). After growing up on a sheep farm in the rural Eastern Townships of Québec, Zoe Whittall moved to Montréal at age 18 to attend Dawson College and begin her writing career.

Zoltan Roman. Musicologist, oboist, b Miskolc, Hungary, 7 Jun 1936, naturalized Canadian 1962; B MUS (British Columbia) 1962, MA (Toronto) 1965, PH D (Toronto) 1970. He studied the oboe in Miskolc and played in its State SO and State Opera until 1956.

Between February 1868 and September 1870, 7 contingents totalling 507 Canadians enrolled in the papal army (whose soldiers were known as Papal Zouaves) to help defend Rome from the Italian troops who wanted to bring about Italian unification.

Zsuzsi Gartner, writer, editor, journalist, (born at Winnipeg, MB, 4 May 1960) began her career in journalism.