Marie-Victorin

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Brother Marie-Victorin (born Conrad Kirouac, April 4, 1885 in Kingsey Falls, Québec - July 1944) was a Christian Brother and botanist, best known as the father of the Jardin botanique de Montréal. Although Marie-Victorin is on record as having suggested that Montréal build its own botanical gardens as early as 1919, the Jardin was only authorized by Montreal mayor Camillien Houde in 1929, and work only began on construction in 1931.

Subsequent administrations, both municipal and provincial, opposed the Jardin as a boondoggle; however, Marie-Victorin continued to champion the Jardin's cause, promoting it at every opportunity, leading specimen-collection expeditions, and even (during the Second World War) protecting it from being converted into a military flight school.

Brother Marie-Victorin is best known for his writing. "La flore Laurentienne" is a botanical record of all Laurentian indigeneous species. It was the first time that such a record was held. He showed that botany was more than a recreative hobby while inspiring a whole generation of meticulous scientific botanists.

He was related to Franco-American writer Jack Kerouac.

Marie-Victorin died in a car accident in July 1944.