BIOGRAPHY

Annette Côté-Savoie was born in Sainte-Claire, Quebec, Canada, on 28 June 1910, to parents Laurent Cote and Aimee Bellavance. In her youth, she obtained a degree in library science. On 23 August 1938, at the age of 28, she married Émile Savoie (1905–1986) at the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec in Quebec City. The couple had six children: Jacques, Pierre, Jean, Reine, Marc and Marie.

In the early 1930s, she became aware of the inequality between men and women. Working as a secretary in the civil service during the Great Depression, her salary was insufficient to support her mother and siblings. She requested a raise from Adélard Godbout, the Minister of Agriculture at the time, but he refused. Minister Godbout explained that she was already receiving the maximum salary permissible for a woman, whereas a man in the same position would have been entitled to a higher salary. According to her, this was the moment she became a feminist. At the age of 105, she remarked, “We don’t want to be against men. We want to walk alongside men, not in front of them. Walking alongside them is normal…”

In addition to her community and feminist work, she founded the Deux-Montagnes municipal library upon her retirement. As the first manager, she played a key role in its transition to municipal control in 1978. In 1986, she wrote a book about the history of the Deux-Montagnes library, detailing the work accomplished and the effort to ensure the library was entrusted to a professional librarian. She received the commemorative medal for the 125th anniversary of Canada in recognition of her community involvement. To honor her many contributions, the city of Deux-Montagnes named a street and the community room of the municipal library after her.

Côté-Savoie remained active in her advocacy for women’s rights well into her later years. At 108, she published an opinion letter titled “Girls, Don’t Give Up!” in La Presse.

Annette Côté-Savoie passed away in Deux-Montagnes, Quebec, on 10 July 2020, at the age of 110 years, 12 days. She was survived by five of her six children (all but Jacques), as well as 13 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren. The mayor of Deux-Montagnes, Denis Martin, expressed his condolences, recognizing Côté-Savoie’s invaluable contributions to the community.

RECOGNITION

Her age has not been validated.

ATTRIBUTION

* Généalogie Annette Cote – Généalogie du Québec et d’Amérique française

* “Annette Savoie, féministe de 103 ans : “Moi, je vais mourir sur l’inachevé, je le sais” ” – Sisyphe.org, 15 March 2014

* “Annette Côté-Savoie, 105 ans et féministe” – Radio-Canada, 9 March 2016

* “Les filles, ne baissez pas les bras !” – Sisyphe.org, 19 September 2018

* “Mrs. Annette Savoie, pioneer for the city of Deux-Montagnes, passed away at the age of 110” – Ville de Deux-Montagnes, 16 July 2020

* “SAVOIE, Annette Côté” – Le Journal de Québec, 18 July 2020

GALLERY