Portrait of André Bessette

Birthday profile

André Bessette

André Bessette, Canadian saint (died 1937)

Born
August 9, 1845
Died
January 6, 1937
Zodiac sign
Leo
Birth year
1845

About André Bessette

André Bessette, C.S.C., commonly known as Brother André and since his canonization as Saint André of Montreal, was a lay brother of the Congregation of Holy Cross and a significant figure of the Catholic Church among French Canadians. He is credited with thousands of reported healings associated with his pious devotion to Saint Joseph. Bessette was the first saint of the Congregation of Holy Cross, the same religious order that founded the University of Notre Dame. Clothilde died of tuberculosis within three years, and Bessette became orphaned at the age of twelve. After, Bessette became a porter at Collège Notre-Dame in Côte-des-Neiges, Quebec, and also served as sacristan, laundry worker and messenger.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when André Bessette was born

André Bessette was born in 1845. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Headlines and milestones

  • Top headlineTexas and Florida become US states
  • Technology milestoneRubber band patented
  • World population~1.25B

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderJames K. Polk
  • U.S. population19.6M

1845 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in André Bessette's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure18452026
Population19.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, Library of Congress, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.