Jean de Quen

Jean de Quen (May, c. 1603 at Amiens, France – 8 October 1659 in Quebec) was a French Jesuit missionary, priest and historian who discovered Lac Saint-Jean. As head of Jesuit missions of New France, he founded the missions to Saguenay. Jean de Quen was the first European to see Lake Piékouagami (Lake Saint-Jean).

Early life

Born around 1603 in Amiens, Picardy, Jean de Quen was about 17 years old when he joined the Jesuits on 13 September 1620. He taught for three years at the Collège in Eu, and then left for Canada. He arrived at Quebec 17 Aug. 1635, where he taught at the College of Quebec opened that same year for French and Amerindian boys. He taught there for two years before joining the Sillery mission, an initiative aimed at educating local peoples. He later left the mission and went back to Quebec to minister to the parish of Notre-Dame-de-la-Recouvrance. After a fire destroyed the school, chapel and Jesuits’ residence in 1640, he resumed his service in Sillery before venturing on to the Trois-Rivières post, where he was involved in the establishing another mission.