Élisabeth Bruyère or Bruguier (March 19, 1818 – April 5, 1876) was the founder of the Sisters of Charity of

Bytown Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a so ...

and opened the first hospital there and the first bilingual school in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Biography

She was born Élisabeth Bruguier in

L'Assomption L'Assomption () is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada on the L'Assomption River. It is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of L'Assomption. It is located on the outer fringes of the Montreal urban area. ...

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

in 1818. Daughter of Jean Baptiste Charles Bruguier (1763-1824) and Sophie Mercier. The Bruguier name was changed in 1824 when the family moved after the death of her father. In 1839, she joined the

Sisters of Charity Many religious communities have the term Sisters of Charity in their name. Some ''Sisters of Charity'' communities refer to the Vincentian tradition, or in America to the tradition of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, but others are unrelated. The ...

of the Hôpital Général of Montreal, also known as the Grey Nuns. In 1845, she was asked to set up a community of the Sisters of Charity at Bytown. With three other Grey Nuns, she established

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

schools, hospitals and orphanages there. In 1854, the community in Bytown became independent of Montreal. Although the Sisters of Charity cared for people of every religious denomination during the

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

outbreak in 1847, a Protestant General Hospital, later the

Ottawa Civic Hospital The Ottawa Civic Hospital is one of three main campuses of The Ottawa Hospital – along with the General and Riverside campuses. With 549 beds (including the Heart Institute), the Civic Campus has the region's only adult-care trauma centre, servin ...

, was opened in 1850. The Sisters of Charity were also responsible from 1870 to 2001 of the school which became today the

Collège Saint-Joseph de Hull College Saint-Joseph de Hull is a private school for girls in Gatineau, Quebec, near the Canadian Museum of History and Jacques Cartier Park. It is located at the corner of Rue Laurier, Boulevard des Allumettières (formerly Boulevard Saint-Laur ...

in Gatineau, the city's girl school and one of two private secondary institutions. The community opened other houses in Ontario,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

and New York state. The hospital opened in Bytown later became the

Ottawa General Hospital The Ottawa Hospital's General Campus is one of three main campuses of The Ottawa Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. With 569 beds, the General Campus includes The Ottawa Hospital Rehabilitation Centre and the Cancer Centre. The Ottawa General H ...

. The Sisters of Charity also established facilities for the aged, opening the St. Charles Old Age Hospice, later the Residence Saint-Louis. She died in Ottawa on April 5, 1876.

Legacy

Bruyère Continuing Care, located on the former site of the Ottawa General hospital, is named after her. For over 150 years, the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa have been a cornerstone of health care in Ottawa. The

Ontario Heritage Trust The Ontario Heritage Trust (french: link=no, Fiducie du patrimoine ontarien) is a non-profit agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture. It is responsible for protecting, preserving and promoting the built, natural and cultural herita ...

erected a plaque for Elisabeth Bruyère 1818–1876 in front of the Chapel of the Sisters of Charity, 25 Bruyère Street, at Sussex Drive, Ottawa. "Arriving in Ottawa in 1845 with three other Grey Nuns, Bruyère immediately began to establish schools, hospitals, and other institutions to aid the disadvantaged. By the time of her death, the Sisters of Charity of Ottawa had extended their services to other parts of Canada and to the United States."https://www.bruyere.org/en/s-elisabeth-bruyere-hospital Official site

References

;Bibliography *

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''Sisters of Charity of OttawaSCO Health Service
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruyere, Elisabeth 1818 births 1876 deaths 19th-century Canadian women Canadian nurses Canadian women nurses French Quebecers Franco-Ontarian people Canadian Servants of God People from Lanaudière Canadian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns Founders of Catholic religious communities Women founders Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis Franco-Ontarian history