Quebec journalist and politician. Born and raised in Montreal, he was educated in Montreal and Rome before becoming the national secretary of L'Action catholique, a group organized to link professionals to the social work of the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec, in 1945. He then worked for the Quebec Ministry of Education from 1962 to 1964, when he became editor of Montreal's newspaper Le Devoir. He wrote many influential political columns that politicians from all sides of the spectrum sought his advice. In 1978 he left Le Devoir to become leader of the Quebec Liberal Party. It was during this time that he became known for his most famous accomplishment: leading the "No" side to victory in the 1980 Quebec Referendum by a margin of 60% to 40%, defeating René Lévesque's "Yes" side. However, he lost the 1981 Quebec provincial election to the Parti Québécois and stepped down as Liberal leader a year later. When the Liberals returned to power under Robert Bourassa in 1985, Ryan was appointed as Minister of Education. He would then be appointed as Minister of Municipal Affairs and Public Security before retiring from politics in 1994. In retirement, he remained devoted to Quebec and the Catholic Church, even teaching a Catholic social thought course at McGill University in 2002. Even after being diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer in December 2003, he continued to work, even writing a testament for his son Andre to read at his funeral. He was given a state funeral, held at Notre Dame Basilica on February 13, 2004, and attended by over 2000 people, including then-Prime Minister Paul Martin, current and former Ontario and Quebec Premiers, local archbishops, among others. He is survived by his brother, Yves, three sons, and two daughters, with his wife having predeceased him in 1986.

Cause of death: Stomach cancer