Armand Frappier


Armand Frappier, was a physician, microbiologist, and expert on tuberculosis from Quebec, Canada.
Born in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Quebec, the son of Arthur-Alexis Frappier and Bernadette Codebecq, his mother died in 1923 from tuberculosis. This greatly affected him and he pursued a career devoted to fighting this tueuse de maman. In 1924, he received a Bachelor of Arts and, in 1930, he received a medical degree from the Université de Montréal. In 1933, he obtained a Bachelor of Science also from the Université de Montréal.
In 1938, he founded the Institut de microbiologie et d'hygiène de Montréal - following the model of the Pasteur Institute in Paris and the Connaught Laboratories of the University of Toronto - the first French-language school of hygiene in the world, and served as its director for 38 years. It was renamed Institut Armand-Frappier in 1975.
He was instrumental in the fight against tuberculosis in Canada and as one of the first researchers to confirm the safety and usefulness of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccine.
In 1929, he married Thérèse Ostiguy. They had four children: Lise, Monique, Michèle, and Paul.

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