Marie-Victorin
(1885-1944)
A nature lover, Marie-Victorin, a shining intellectual in Quebec’s history, lived a life centred on scientific curiosity and a hunger to learn. Particularly influential in the realm of botany, in 1923, he created the Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences et l'Institut botanique at Université de Montréal. A few years later, he founded the famous Montreal Botanical Garden. Renowned for his penmanship and for his avant-garde ideas in his letters about female carnal pleasure, Marie-Victorin lived freely, was consistently involved in his community, and his quest for authenticity was tremendously challenging to the established order.