Evelyn de Mille

Evelyn de Mille (August 1, 1919 – October 31, 2013) was a Canadian known for being the first woman in Calgary, Alberta to own her own stand-alone bookstore. She opened her first bookstore in 1956. In 1974, she became the first woman in Canada to found a bookstore chain. In this role, she helped found the Bookseller of the Year Awards. In 1999, she announced she was retiring permanently from the trade and would sell her last remaining book store, DeMille Technical Books.

In 1998, she was awarded an honorary degree as a Doctor of Laws by the University of Calgary.

Evelyn purchased a page of the Gutenberg bible, and donated it to the University of Calgary, where it now resides in their library. This entry will be updated with news on her further willed donations and long-term support to the University of Calgary.