Édouard-Charles Fabre

Bishop Édouard-Charles Fabre taken in Montreal in 1875 at William Notman's studio. Édouard-Charles Fabre (; February 28, 1827 – December 30, 1896) was Bishop of Montréal in 1876 and first Archbishop of Montreal in 1886.

Life Fabre was the eldest of 11 children in an important Montreal business family. His father Édouard-Raymond Fabre was a bookseller and mayor of Montreal from 1849 to 1851, his mother, Luce Perrault, was involved in social work, charitable institutions, and home visits for the poor. His sister Hortense later married the lawyer and politician George-Étienne Cartier.

Fabre completed his classical studies at the Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe in 1843. His father opposed his desire to become a priest and took the sixteen-year-old to live in Paris with his paternal aunt Julie so that the boy might see something of the world. She was married to the elder Fabre's business partner, Hector Bossange. Eventually, his father agreed that Édouard-Charles could study philosophy and theology at the seminary of Saint-Sulpice at Issy-les-Moulineaux.

In 1846 Fabre finished his studies at Saint-Sulpice, visited Rome and met Pope Pius IX. He returned to Montreal and resumed his theological studies at the episcopal palace under Jean-Charles Prince, coadjutor bishop of Montreal. After his ordination on 23 January 1850 at Saint-Jacques Cathedral, he was appointed assistant pastor in Sorel. Two year later, he was named parish priest at Saint-Joachim de la Pointe Claire. In 1855, he was installed as titular canon of the Cathedral. In 1886, Pope Leo XIII made him Archbishop of Montreal. The Diocese of Sherbrooke and that of Saint-Hyacinthe were made suffragan to Montreal. The Montreal metro station Fabre is named after the street which is named after him.