Wilfrid Derome (19 April 1877 – 24 November 1931) was a

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 ...

forensic scientist Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal ...

known as the founder of the first forensic science laboratory in North America, founded in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Quebec, Canada. The laboratory is now called the Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale.

Biography

Dr. Derome was born in Napierville, Canada and studied at the College of Montreal, Sainte-Marie College, and Joliette Seminary, where he received the Bachelor of Arts in 1898. Later, he received a doctorate of medicine from Université Laval in Montreal in 1902, interning at Notre Dame Hospital. During 1908–1909, Dr. Derome studied Legal Medicine at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. During his career, he acted as associate editor the American Journal of Police Science, contributing two articles during 1930. He was a member of the

International Association for Identification The International Association for Identification (IAI) is the largest forensic organization in the world. It was originally formed as the "International Association for Criminal Identification" in October 1915. Through the years it has grown into an ...

and the Société de médecine légale de France.

Work

In 1910, Dr. Derome was appointed Professor of Legal Medicine and Toxicology at the University of Montreal and became head of the Laboratory of Notre Dame Hospital. He founded, in June 1914, the first governmental forensic science laboratory in North America in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He acted as the Director of the lab since his death in 1931 at the age of 54. He testified as Medical Expert and Ballistic Expert to the Crown in many legal cases during his career. In 1922, he became the first Expert in North America to testify in front of the Court on the determination of ethyl alcohol in the blood. In 1926, Dr. Derome invented the microspherometer which can reveal the marks left on the surface of bullets fired from a firearm for the purpose of identification. This discovery allowed to present scientific evidence in Court for the first time in ballistics.Beaudoin, F. Wilfrid Derome, terreur de la classe criminelle, Journal de la Criminalistique, 1(3), 2011, pp 98-100 In 1929 and 1932, the Derome laboratory was visited by

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He was appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation � ...

, from the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

, in order to plan the foundation of the FBI laboratory.

Human Remains

Derome retained dozens of human remains from the bodies of murder victims that he attended to in his role as the province's leading forensic scientist, which included removing tattoos from the body of a murdered woman named Mildred Brown. He also kept parts of men and women's reproductive systems, internal and external organs, and fetuses at varying stages of development. This collection of human remains are legally owned by the provincial Ministry of Public Security and, between 1997 and 2020, were held at the Museum of Civilization in Quebec City.

Awards

* 2001 – Quebec Government named the building that housed the Forensic science Laboratory and the headquarters of the

Sûreté du Québec The (SQ; , ) is the provincial police service for the Canadian province of Quebec. No official English name exists, but the agency's name is sometimes translated to 'Quebec Provincial Police' or QPP in English-language sources. The headquarters ...

by his name: Building Wilfrid Derome * 2011 - French Hall of Fame of Criminalistic (Association Québécoise de Criminalistique, Canada)

Books

* Derome, W. Précis de médecine légale, Cie d'imprimerie des Marchands, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1920 * Derome, W. Lieu du crime, 1928 * Derome, W. Expertises en armes à feu, Impr. alliés syndicats cathol.-nationaux, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 1929

References

Sources

*American Journal of Police Science, 1931.

External links

Laboratoire des Sciences Judiciaires et de Médecine Légale site
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Derome, Wilfrid 1877 births 1931 deaths Scientists from Quebec People from Montérégie Canadian toxicologists Canadian forensic scientists Université Laval alumni University of Paris alumni Université de Montréal faculty Medical educators Legal educators Canadian expatriates in France