Armand Frappier

Who was Armand Frappier?

Armand Frappier, CC GOQ OBE MSRC 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, 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.