Background
He was born at Quebec City in 1846, the son of François Évanturel, and studied at the Petit Séminaire de Québec and the Université Laval.
He was born at Quebec City in 1846, the son of François Évanturel, and studied at the Petit Séminaire de Québec and the Université Laval.
Laval University.
His name also appears in an anglicized form as Francis Evanturel. He was called to the Lower Canada bar in 1871 and set up practice at Quebec. The following year, he went to Ottawa, where he was employed in the secretariat of the Minister of Public Works.
After working with the Post Office Department, he moved to Alfred, Ontario in 1881.
He became a strong proponent for Francophone rights in the province and was particularly opposed to the policy of English-only schools supported by the provincial Conservatives. In 1886, he established a weekly newspaper L"Interprète in Alfred.
In 1892, the paper was purchased by Henri Bourassa and relocated to Montebello, Quebec. He was made speaker in the legislature as a result of pressure from Wilfrid Laurier and became the first and, to date, the only Francophone to occupy that post.
In 1904, he became a minister without portfolio in the provincial cabinet, thus becoming the first Francophone cabinet minister in the province.
He died in Alfred in 1908. The township of Evanturel took its name from Évanturel.