Jeanne Sauvé

Jeanne Mathilde Sauvé PC CC CMM CD (née Benoît; April 26, 1922 – January 26, 1993) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the first and to date only female Speaker of the House (1980–1984) and as the first female Governor General of Canada (1984–1990).

Sauvé was born in Prud'homme, Saskatchewan, and educated in Ottawa and Paris, prior to working as a journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). She was then elected to the House of Commons in 1972, whereafter she served as a minister of the Crown until 1980, when she became the Speaker. She was in 1984 appointed by Queen Elizabeth II as the 23rd governor general since Canadian Confederation, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada Pierre Trudeau, to replace Edward Schreyer as vicereine, and she occupied the post until succeeded by Ray Hnatyshyn in 1990. She was the first woman to serve as Canada's governor general and, while her appointment as the Queen's representative was initially and generally welcomed, Sauvé caused some controversy during her time as vicereine, mostly due to increased security around the office, as well as an anti-monarchist attitude towards the position.

On November 27, 1972, Sauvé was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. She subsequently founded and worked with the Sauvé Foundation until her death, caused by Hodgkin's lymphoma, on January 26, 1993.

The highest trophy for the Canadian Ringette Championships, the major national competition for the sport of ringette, is named in her honour. Initially called the Jeanne Sauvé Cup, it was post-humously renamed the Jeanne Sauvé Memorial Cup.