Laval University From the SelectedWorks of Fathi Habashi June, 2017 Four Hundred Years Ago. Louis Hébert in Quebec Fathi Habashi Available at: https://works.bepress.com/fathi_habashi/232/
Four hundred years ago Louis Hébert in Quebec Fathi Habashi Laval University, Quebec City Fathi.Habashi@arul.ulaval.ca Louis Hébert was born in Paris the son of an apothecary. He followed in his father's profession and by 1600 he was established as an apothecary and spice merchant. Samuel de Champlain, who founded Quebec in 1608, saw a need for medical service and agricultural selfsufficiency for Quebec. He had met Louis Hébert during an earlier expedition and had recognized his outstanding qualities. Champlain approached him with an offer from the Compagnie de Canada. At this time, Quebec was a settlement of some fifty white men who were all transient soldiers, fur trappers, or missionaries. The economy of the settlement was dependent on beaver pelts that were annually returned to French merchants in exchange for supplies. Louis Hébert (ca. 1575-1627) The Compagnie de Canada, made up of merchants from Rouen, St. Malo, and La Rochelle, had a trading monopoly that controlled the fur trade in Quebec. The Compagnie offered Louis Hébert to practice pharmacy in Quebec for three years to establish farming and would pay him an annual salary and grant him land to build his house and farm.
In Quebec Louis Hébert sailed April 11 and arrived in Québec on July 15, 1617, with his wife, and their three children. Upon his arrival in Quebec, he had to work hard. He raised corn, wheat, beans, peas, and livestock including cattle, swine, and fowl. He also established an apple orchard and a vineyard. His farm was located at current the site of the basilica of Quebec. By 1620, his hard work was recognized as having been of great service to the colony: for being the physician and surgeon, for being its principal provider of food, and for having fostered good relationships with the natives. After his contract with the Canada Company ended in 1620, Louis Hébert was given administrative and judicial powers in the colony and Champlain named him King s Attorney. In 1621, his daughter married and her husband joined the family business. On February 4, 1623 he was given possession of the lands he had been working on. A monument was inaugurated in 1918 on the 300th anniversary of the arrival of Louis Hébert and his family in Québec. It constitutes the first family to be established in New France located in Montmorency Park overlooking the St. Lawrence River in Quebec City. On top of the monument is Louis Hébert holding a sheaf of grain in one hand and a sickle in the other. On one side of the base is shown his wife with her three children in her arms. On the other, son-in-law has a plough in hand. Monument of Louis Hébert and his family 2
Exhibition 1 On the occasion of 400 th anniversary of his arrival, the Library of Laval University presents an exhibition from April 19 to December 22, 2017 entitled The Heritage of Louis Hébert. 400 Years of Pharmacy in Quebec. The exhibition is at Salle Alcan of the library at Pavilion Alexandre Vachon. The exhibition was realized by the cooperation of la Société québécoise d'histoire de la pharmacie and Professor Emeritus Gilles Barbeau at the Faculty of Pharmacy. The exhibition marks the memory of Louis Hébert and the development of pharmacy since his time. There are about 150 objects in display showing pharmacy instruments, archives, pharmaceutical products all from the collection of Société québécoise d'histoire de la pharmacie as well as Monastère des Augustines and Laval University Collection. 1 Photos by Nadia Habashi 3
Chemistry Professor Alexandre Vachon (1885-1953) 4
Chemistry Laboratory at Laval University in 1936 5
Ibn Sina [Avicenne] (980-1073) 6
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Émile Coderre (1893-1970) 8
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Water still 10
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The plant colchicum contains the alkaloid colchicine used to treat gout. Its leaves, corm and seeds are poisonous. 15