Sauvé, Jeanne Mathilde Benoit

Sauvé, Jeanne Mathilde Benoit (zhän mätēld` bənwä` sōvā`), 1922–93, Canadian government official, b. Prud'homme, Saskatchewan. Sauvé, who studied at the universities of Ottawa and Paris, had a distinguished career as a broadcast and print journalist before entering politics. A Liberal, she was elected to Parliament in 1972, thrice reelected, and served as minister of science and technology (1972–74), the environment (1974–75), and communications (1975–79). The first woman speaker of Canada's House of Commons (1980–84), Sauvé was also Canada's first female governor-general (1984–90).