Jeanne Mance, 1606-1673

Even in the days of the French colonies, women were there to make their mark. Jeanne Mance, a French nurse and New France settler, was one of the founders of the city of Montreal. She knew that this new city would need a hospital, so in 1645, she founded l’Hotel-Dieu de Montreal, where she provided most care personally. She returned to France twice to raise more funds for the hospital, and the second time she also recruited three sisters from les Religieuses hospitalieres de Saint-Joseph, a religious order dedicated to serving the sick. When she died in 1673, she was buried on the grounds of the hospital that she created, and, while l’Hotel-Dieu de Montreal was moved in 1861, it is still one of three principal hospitals in Montreal.