Anne Bourdon (August 29, 1644 – November 4, 1711) was a
nun in
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
. She was the first Canadian-born superior of the
Ursuline order in New France. She was also known as Mère de Sainte-Agnès.
The daughter of
Jean Bourdon
Jean Bourdon ( – 1668) was the first engineer-in-chief and land-surveyor in the colony of New France, and the first attorney-general of the Conseil Superieur.
Bourdon came to New France in 1634 and he was designated as the engineer to Gover ...
, attorney general for the colony, and Jacqueline Potel, she was born in
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...
.
[ All of her three sisters joined religious orders.]Ursulines of Quebec
The Ursuline Monastery of Quebec City (french: Monastère des Ursulines de Québec) was founded by a missionary group of Ursuline nuns in 1639 under the leadership of Mother Marie of the Incarnation, O.S.U. It is the oldest institution of learni ...
at the age of 14, and took her vows two years later, taking the name of Anne de Sainte-Agnès. She learned the languages of the native peoples from Marie of the Incarnation. She served as depositary, secretary of the chapter, assistant superior and mistress of novices. When the archives of the community were destroyed by fire in 1686, she reconstructed the archives from memory. In June 1700, she was elected superior for the congregation.[ of pleurisy.][
]
References
1644 births
1711 deaths
People of New France
Ursulines
Canadian Roman Catholic religious sisters and nuns
People from Quebec City
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