Jules Helbronner

Helbronner embarked on a career in journalism, starting at Le Journal d’Arthabask, then joining the weekly Le Moniteur du commerce in 1882, and becoming its editor-in-chief two years later. During this time, he developed a growing interest in the labour movement and began a sporadic column in La Presse (a daily newspaper focused on municipal affairs and labour) under the pseudonym Jean-Baptiste Gagnepetit. His condemnation of the “corvée,” a regressive fiscal measure imposed on Montreal tenants, helped lead to its elimination in 1886. From 1892 to 1908, Helbronner exerted great influence as editor-in-chief of La Presse, and then joined the team of the paper La Patrie.

A social reformer, Helbronner advocated for change both on and off the page. In the context of increasing industrialisation, he supported labour organizations while also promoting political action and social justice. In 1885, he himself became a member of the Knights of Labor, as well as an executive member of the Central Trades and Labor Council of Montreal. He also participated in the French Chamber of Commerce in Montreal (1887-1905), the National French Union (1901-1909) and the Royal Commission on the Relations of Labor and Capital.

An assimilated Jew of considerable influence, Helbronner also spoke out against the rise of anti-Semitism at a time when few Jews openly opposed it. Though most closely associated with Montreal’s French-language community, Helbronner remained proud of his Jewish cultural heritage, and strongly condemned various manifestations of anti-Semitism around the world, including the Dreyfus affair in the 1890s.

In 1906, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour.

Special thanks to the Museum of Jewish Montreal. 

Learn more: 

http://mimj.ca/location/1068
http://www.cjhn.ca/permalinkFR/191
http://www.lapresse.ca/