Cyrille Duquet

Cyrille Duquet (31 March 1841—1 December 1922) was a Canadian goldsmith, flutist, and inventor in Quebec. Originally working in the field of clocks and watches, he was also a passionate jewelry collector.

Cyrille Duquet
Born	31 March 1841  Quebec City
Died	1 December 1922  (aged 81) Quebec City
Occupation	Inventor, politician, flautist, clockmaker, jeweler, goldsmith, collecting, scientist
Parent(s)	Joseph Duquet (labourer)

On 1 February 1878, he was granted a Canadian patent[1] for a telephone receiver, that may have been used in early types of handsets.[2] This patent was for a new transmitter based on a cluster of permanent magnets that improved signal clarity, and a new mouthpiece design.[3] Later, Duquet worked on combining transmitter and receiver in one unit, arranged both on each end of a board.[3] The first telephone installed in Montréal was one Duquet designed, and he followed with installing phones and phone lines in the area.[3]

At about the same time as Alexander Graham Bell, he developed a telephone connecting his home and shop. Bell's father, Melville Bell, responsible for the Canadian interests of Graham Bell, who had recently moved to Boston, offered Duquet to sell him the rights to the telephone on Canadian soil, for the sum of 20,000 dollars. Unable to raise this colossal sum, Duquet abandoned all interests to the Canadian Telephone Company in 1882.[4]

Fleetford Charles Sise, vice-president of the Canadian Telephone Company, gave notice because he believed Cyrille Duquet plagiarized Bell. Mr. Duquet was for $5000, but got away with damages of about $10; he sold his invention for the sum of $2,100 provided to waive any project in the world of telephony. However, it is left to him the undisputed paternity - and recognized - the handset in use worldwide. A photo of his phone is available in the collections of Libraries and Archives Canada[5] and the original phone is currently stored at Bell Canada. An exact replica of the apparatus manufactured and marketed by Cyrille Duquet in 1878 was made by Bell Canada as a gift to Duquet's granddaughter.[6][7][8]

The main clock of the National Assembly of Quebec bear his signature. That of Saint-Jean-Baptiste library is also his creation. A government building, located on Boulevard Charest in Quebec City, was named in his honor, and Quebec Street bears his name. He fabricated in 1883 the black rod,[9] symbol of authority, today preserved at the National Assembly in Québec city.

Excellent flutist, Cyrille Duquet was a member of the Septet Haydn, virtuoso ensemble of Quebec, some of whom have joined the Société symphonique de Québec (now Quebec Symphony Orchestra) in 1903 .

He was a municipal councilor in Quebec François Langelier and Simon-Napoléon Parent between 1883 and 1890 and from 1900 to 1908. He died in Quebec, on 1 December 1922 at the age of 81 years. He was buried in Notre-Dame-de-Belmont.