Madonna
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Madonna’s French-Canadian Roots
Madonna performing in Melbourne, 2016 (2016 photo by Wikipedia author chrisweger, Wikimedia Commons.
The “Queen of Pop” was born Madonna Louise Ciccone on 16 Aug 1958 in Bay City, Michigan, USA. Her father Silvio Anthony Ciccone was the child of Italian immigrants, while her mother Madonna Louise Fortin came from a long line of French-Canadians who only emigrated to the United States in the 1880s.
Madonna’s first Fortin ancestor to come to the New World was Julien Fortin. A butcher by trade, Julien was born in 1621 in St-Cosme-en-Vairais, Sarthe, France to parents Julien Fortin and Marie Lavye. He immigrated to New-France (present-day Québec, Canada) around 1650. In 1652, he wed “femme à marier” Geneviève Gamache, who came to Canada with her brother. [The “femmes à marier” were the predecessors to the “Filles du Roy” – read about them here]. The couple had 12 children.
Above: The 1621 baptism record for Julien Fortin at Notre-Dame in St-Cosme-en-Vairais, Sarthe. (Source: Fédération québécoise des sociétés de généalogie)
Right: the location of St-Cosme-en-Vairais, Sarthe (source: Google Maps).
Located close to the Perche border, St-Cosme-en-Vairais was the hometown of over 30 people who were recruited for the long voyage to New France in the 17th century, including Julien Fortin.
9 generations and over 300 years later, his descendant Madonna Louise Ciccone was born.
Are you related to Madonna? Here is her maternal Fortin line. See if you can spot any relatives you may have in common. Madonna and yours truly, The French-Canadian Genealogist, are 9th cousins 3x removed.
Madonna performing in Stockholm, 2015 (2015 photo by Wikipedia author chrisweger, Wikimedia Commons).
Madonna performing in Paris, 2015 (2015 photo by Wikipedia author chrisweger, Wikimedia Commons).
Madonna Louise Fortin, Madonna’s mother, in a 1951 yearbook photo (“U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1990”, digital images, Ancestry.ca.)
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