Jacques Parizeau, the former Quebec premier who came close to severing that province from the rest of Canada, died on Monday in Montreal. He was 84.

His death was announced on Facebook by his wife, Lisette Lapointe, who is also a prominent Quebec separatist politician. No cause was given, but Mr. Parizeau had been ill in recent years.

The highest and lowest point of Mr. Parizeau’s career came in 1995 when, as premier, he engineered the second referendum set in motion by his party, Parti Québécois, on separating from Canada. The first attempt, in 1980, under the party’s founding leader, René Lévesque, was a failure, with only about 40 percent of voters favoring separation. But the 1995 vote was much closer, falling 54,000 votes short of victory, with 49.42 percent of voters agreeing to separation.

Mr. Parizeau’s speech after the vote, however, damaged his reputation and contributed to his decision to resign as premier.