Jacques Parizeau

Jacques Parizeau was born in Montreal to an aristocratic French-Canadian family and earned a doctorate from the London School of Economics in 1955. As chief economic advisor to Premier Jean Lesage, he was the brilliant intellectual brain behind the Quiet Revolution, designing Hydro-Québec's nationalization, the Caisse de dépôt, and the Quebec Pension Plan.

Joining the Parti Québécois in 1969, Parizeau served as Minister of Finance under René Lévesque and was elected Premier of Quebec in 1994. Dedicated single-mindedly to Quebec independence, he led the sovereignist campaign in the nail-biting October 1995 referendum, which came within 54,000 votes (49.42% YES) of winning independence, stepping down as Premier the following day.