The Canada Atlas

Learn / People who shaped Canada

Jacques Cartier

Navigator · 1491-1557

Jacques Cartier
Théophile Hamel / After François Nicholas Riss · CC BY-SA 4.0

Made three voyages up the St. Lawrence and gave Canada its name, from an Iroquoian word for village.

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Life story

  1. December 31, 1491 · Saint-Malo, France
    Born at Saint-Malo in Brittany
  2. July 24, 1534 · Gaspé, Quebec
    Planted a cross at Gaspé and claimed the land for Francis I
  3. October 1535 · Quebec City
    Reached Stadacona and Hochelaga; wintered through scurvy at Quebec
  4. 1541 · Cap-Rouge, Quebec
    Returned to found a colony at Cap-Rouge; it failed within two years
  5. September 1, 1557 · Saint-Malo, France
    Died at Saint-Malo

In the timeline

Sources