Evelyn de Mille
Evelyn de Mille | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date |
| Died | October 31, 2013 (aged 94) |
| Occupation(s) | Businesswoman, bookseller |
| Known for | First female independent bookstore owner in Calgary; first woman in Canada to create a bookstore chain; first female president of the Canadian Booksellers Association |
Evelyn de Mille (August 1, 1919 – October 31, 2013) was a pioneering Canadian businesswoman, noted for being the first female in Calgary to operate an independent bookstore. She launched her inaugural shop in 1956 and, by 1974, had become the first woman in Canada to create a bookstore chain.
In 1972, de Mille broke new ground as the first woman to serve as president of the Canadian Booksellers Association, where she played a key role in initiating the Bookseller of the Year Awards. She sold her enterprise to W H Smith in 1974 and subsequently became involved in a legal conflict with the company. In 1979, she purchased Owl's Nest bookstore and managed it until its sale in 1996.
De Mille retired in 1999, divesting her last business, DeMille Technical Books, which was later incorporated into the McNally Robinson bookstore network. The University of Calgary honored her contributions with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1998.
DeMille Technical Books continued to operate within McNally Robinson’s Calgary branch until its closure in 2008. Afterward, with guidance from Evelyn de Mille, Charlie Perry acquired its assets and revived it as DeMille Technical and Business Books Ltd., serving both professionals and students from downtown Calgary until ceasing operations in January 2016.
Beyond her business achievements, Evelyn de Mille made a cultural impact by purchasing and donating a page from the Gutenberg Bible to the University of Calgary library, underscoring her enduring support for the institution.
Further reading
Selected materials from Library and Archives Canada:
- Crawford, Anne, "De Mille savors 40 years as a bookselling pioneer", Calgary Herald, October 7, 1996. p. C1.
- Cusipag, Marjo, "Evelyn deMille: Calgary's first female bookseller", Canadian bookseller, Vol. 20, no. 5, June/July 1998. p. 61.
- De Mille, Evelyn, "The bookseller's dilemma", Library Association of Alberta bulletin, Vol. 4, no. 2, April 1973. p. 38-41.
- "The Evelyn de Mille Collection on the Book and the Book Arts," Calgary: Special Collections Division, University of Calgary Libraries, 1991. 28 p. (Occasional paper no. 9)
- "WHS settles with De Mille," Quill & Quire, Vol. 46, no. 1, January 1980. p. 16-17.