Jeanne Mance

Inspired by reports of New France, Jeanne Mance secured financial backing from wealthy benefactress Angélique Bullion and joined Maisonneuve's expedition. On October 8, 1642, she opened the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal in a simple wooden structure, tending wounded soldiers, settlers, and Indigenous people alike.

Mance crossed the Atlantic three times to raise funds and recruit the Hospitaller Sisters of Saint Joseph, ensuring the hospital's permanence. Her selfless administrative and medical leadership secured the survival of early Montreal, earning her veneration as a National Historic Person.