 The Perche, region of emigration to Quebec in the 17th century |
| The Perche | Madonna | Celine Dion | Hillary Clinton | Camilla | Genealogy |
GEDCOM
Julien Fortin Saint-Cosme
(in French)
Family ties with
• Celine Dion
• Camilla
• Hillary Clinton
• Angelina Jolie
• Jack Kerouac
Blog
| ||||
When Madonna came to Quebec in 1987 for the «Who's That Girl Tour»,
she revealed that her mother was French-American. Suddenly, genealogists started researches. "It took more than two years mainly because Michigan has no marriage registers like in Quebec" explains René Jetté.
This Canadian professor from Montreal University, author of a dictionary of the families of Quebec
that makes authority, made team with an American colleague Gail F.
Moreau. They published in 1994 the fruit of their research in the magazine Michigan's Habitant Heritage,
Journal of the French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan
from which the following family tree is extracted.
 in the French TV show "La chanson numéro 1" broadcasted on France 2, June 8 2003 |
Madonna's maternal grandparents had the same last name FORTIN.
A single patronym that covers two parallel adventures of French-Canadian immigrants
to Michigan at the end of the 19th century. At that time, it was hard to find a job for
the French-speaking Canadians and many tried their chance in the West.
Both branches of Fortin who settled in Michigan had the same origin in Quebec.
In the early 18th century, Louis Fortin got married for the first time with Anne Bossé at Cap-Saint-Ignace in 1714.
They gave birth to Claude Fortin, ancestor of the maternal grandmother of Madonna, Elsie Fortin.
In 1735, Louis Fortin got married for the second time with Madeleine
Langelier; their son, Augustin Fortin, is the ancestor of Willard Fortin,
the maternal grandfather of Madonna.
This Louis Fortin is the grandson of the first Fortin who arrived in 1650
in New France: Julien
Fortin born in the parish Notre-Dame-de-Vair, part of the village Saint-Cosme-en-Vairais,
(Sarthe, FRANCE) today.
source: after an article of Georges Poirier published in the daily newspaper Ouest-France on January 12th, 1995.
Madonna has asked Britain's Duchess of Cornwall to help her trace her family tree - after discovering they are distant cousins.
The pop beauty, who is married to British film director Guy Ritchie, recently found out she is related to Camilla, the wife of Prince Charles, as well as Canadian singer Celine Dion.
Madonna, 47, has now asked both of her new 'relatives' to help her and genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner to find the rest of their shared ancestors.
Reitwiesner is quoted by Britain's Daily Star newspaper as saying: "Camilla and Madonna are both descended from Zacharie Cloutier, who lived from 1617 to 1708. Camilla and Celine descend from Jean Guyon, who lived from 1619 to 1694.
Both Jean and Zacharie died in Chateau-Richer, Quebec. Because of their unusual French-Canadian ancestry, they are all blood relations. Madonna is absolutely fascinated by this."
Camilla, who is a massive fan of Madonna, is said to be keen to help the 'Hung Up' singer trace her roots because she hopes being related to the sexy star will boost her popularity.
A source close to the duchess said: "Believe it or not, Camilla is a huge Madonna fan, so she was thrilled when she got in touch and explained their ancestry.
It's great for Madonna as well because she's desperately trying to accepted by the British public. What could be more British than having English royalty in your family?"
Madonna, who has previously met Camilla's husband Prince Charles, is set to start tracing her royal heritage over the next few weeks.
Genealogy of Madonna
