Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve

Paul Chomedey, sieur de Maisonneuve (1612-1676) was a French officer.

A soldier, he fought in European wars before being sent by the Société de Notre Dame de Montréal to take possession of their grant in the new world. Chosen to found a colony on the Island of Montreal, he arrived in New France in 1641, and began work on the fort and other buildings of Ville-Marie the following year. This colony would later become the city of Montreal. Although he was a skillful organizer, he was not popular with the colonial government, and was recalled to France in 1665, where he died in obscurity in Paris.

See French colonization of the Americas.