Judith Jasmin

Who was Judith Jasmin?

Judith Jasmin was a journalist from Quebec. Born in Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada, she was the first woman from Quebec to become a grand reporter.

Jasmin's journalistic career began at Radio-Canada's world service at the end of the 1940s. It was there she met future Quebec premier René Lévesque with whom she would go on to co-host the radio program Carrefour. In 1953, Jasmin entered Radio-Canada's television news service where she made a name for herself with such programs as Reportages and Conférence de presse. All the while, Jasmin continued to take to the streets, listening to the people in order to denounce injustices. She was a founding member of the Mouvement laïque de langue française.

She spent the next few years of her life abroad, meeting seminal figures of the time and sharing her experiences with the Quebec public. Despite the many obstacles she faced throughout the course of her career, Jasmin's talent and determination allowed her to join the ranks of the great Quebec journalists.

In 1966, Radio-Canada named Jasmin their United Nations correspondent and, later, their Washington correspondent.