Pierre Elliott Trudeau, one of the most controversial and longest serving prime ministers in Canadian history was born in Montreal, Quebec on October 18,1919. Although he was born in Montreal, young Trudeau was schooled throughout the world earning a number of degrees in the United States, France and England. Trudeau will always be remembered as the prime minister who founded the Constitution in Canada and was man enough to tell it like it is. "With his stiletto pen and hair trigger lip, he let people know where he was coming from like no politician they'd ever seen at the town pump."1.
Pierre's family, during his formative years was considered quite wealthy, as his Quebecois father, Charles-Emile, had amassed a considerable fortune in the petroleum industry during the depression era 1930's. His mother, Grace Elliott, was of Scottish decent and was very devoted to her family and the church. The Trudeau family frequently toured Canada and Europe something Pierre would continue to do throughout his lifetime. Trudeau matured quickly due in part to the unexpected and tragic loss of his father to pneumonia in 1935. Pierre was only 15 years old at the time.
In 1940, he began his post secondary education at the University of Montreal where he received a law degree. He later attended Harvard where he earned a Masters degree. By 1946, he had crossed the Atlantic to attend school in Paris and later the London School of Economics in Britain. Through the years, he would be granted over a dozen honorary doctorates from universities around the globe. The two decades between completion of his formal education and his election to public office were often filled with backpacking around the globe and sporadic employment. He was called to the Quebec bar association in 1943 and finally started his own law practice in 1952. Young Pierre was always restless and had a knack for getting himself into .
trouble.
