Fonds

Ludger Gravel was born on November 6, 1864, in Île Bizard. Shortly thereafter, his family moved to Montreal, to Mignonne Street (now De Maisonneuve Boulevard) in the neighbourhood known as Saint Louis. He married Laura Roy (1865-1943) in 1891. The couple had fourteen children, six of whom reached adulthood.

In 1881, Ludger Gravel began working on Jacques Cartier Square as a clerk at hardware wholesaler P. P. Mailloux et Barsalou (which became P. P. Mailloux in 1886), a business that he eventually purchased in 1901. Renamed Maison Ludger Gravel, this firm specialized in carriage, hardware and blacksmith supplies quickly expanded, adding a paint and varnish section in 1905. Recognizing the economic potential of the automobile, in 1918 he founded Ludger Gravel & Fils, a subsidiary devoted to automotive accessories that was run by his son, Pierre. The two companies co-existed until 1930, when all the business lines were brought together under the name of Ludger Gravel & Fils Limitée. To meet his needs for print catalogues and various other promotional documents, Ludger Gravel also started a printing company, which operated until about 1930.

In addition to his business pursuits, Ludger Gravel was actively engaged in his community. From 1910 to 1914, he was president of the Society of French-Canadian Artisans, an organization he first joined in 1902. He was also a member of the Montreal Catholic School Board. A special symbol of his passion for education was the Ludger Gravel Medal, awarded annually to outstanding students in arithmetic from 1910 to 1933, the year of his death. Having joined the Antiquarian and Numismatic Society of Montreal in 1895 (he became a governor in 1904), Ludger Gravel helped save the Château Ramezay. He also helped organize the annual convention of the American Numismatic Association in 1909 and the International Eucharistic Congress in 1910, both of which were held in Montreal. In 1914, he was elected to chair the Commission permanente des Affaires municipales, the Commission permanente des Fers et Métaux, and the Montreal Chamber of Commerce.

A great philanthropist, Ludger Gravel was chairman of the board of L'Assistance Publique (a charity he co-founded in 1903) and a director of the Child Welfare Association, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul and the Notre-Dame de la Merci Hospital. He was also a renowned collector of items such as coins, medals, weapons, taxidermied animals and books of all kinds. At the time, his collections were among the largest in Quebec and were stored in his personal museum, known as "Villa Antique," in the Laurentian village of Saint-Colomban. The Ludger Gravel Museum did not outlive its creator by many years and, starting in 1935, the collections were sold off.

Ludger Gravel died in Montreal on April 6, 1933.