The Lost and Found Z(S)amenhofs of Montreal ... and Beaconsfield
Speaker: Yevgeniya Amis
When: Thursday, February 16, 2023, 19:30 - 21:00
Where: Centennial Hall,
288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, H9W 4A4
Lecture in English followed by a bilingual question period
In 1910 L.L. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto, had his first and only trip outside Europe: to visit the International Congress of Esperanto in Washington, DC. But what very few people know also is that not only did he visit Washington, DC, but also Montreal and -- yes! -- Beaconsfield! Why Beaconsfield? Because some of his close relatives immigrated to Montreal in the 1880s and also had their summer residence in Beaurepaire - Beaconsfield. Yevgeniya will tell us all that is to know about the lost -- and found -- Zamenhofs of Canada.
Yevgeniya Amis speaks Esperanto every day with her husband Joel. She is a former editor of a socio-cultural magazine in Esperanto (Kontakto). She premiered recently as a playwright and producer of the play "1910" -- a "firsthand" story about Zamenhof's visit to Montreal that was put on stage during the World Esperanto Congress 2022 in Montreal. She and her husband, the Rev. Joel Amis (the incumbent of Christ Church Beaurepaire) were on the organizing committee of this World Congress (the second one in this part of the world... after the one in 1910 in Washington). Yevgeniys is working on a historical research into Zamenhof's family in Montreal that is planned to appear in a book form. She does many other Esperanto activities in her spare time (writing, editing, singing, etc.). She works for the National Film Board.
You can view the play in Esperanto at 1910 on YouTube with English subtitles.
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After explaining the reason he wrote this book and the title of the book, Mr Wilkins will make reference to just a few of the events that took place during the first year of the twentieth century: The death of Queen Victoria and how that news was received in Montreal; the massive Board of Trade fire of late January; the Redpath deaths in June of 1901, which were the result of one of the strangest shooting stories ever in this city’s history; the Royal Visit of September 1901; etc, etc. 
Born in Montreal in 1947, Robert N. Wilkins was educated at Concordia University, Carleton University, and McGill University. High school teacher in the Montreal area for some 35 years, he was also a contributor to the Quebec Family History Society quarterly ‘Connections’, The Westmount Examiner, The Suburban, The Montreal Gazette, and, occasionally, other national newspapers as well. He published two books, 'Montreal, 1909' (Shoreline Press, in 2017) and 'Montreal Recorder’s Court', 1906 (in 2020) before his more recent book 'Grandad’s Montreal, 1901' (in 2022).
Wes Cross is a co-founder of the 
Centennial Hall, now the city’s cultural centre, was once home to a lawyer, a Montreal sports magnate, dozens of delinquent girls and Beaconsfield’s city hall. This lecture will tell the history of Centennial Hall, its owners and what was there before. 
Pauline Faguy-Girard is interested in history and more specifically to Beaconsfield’s history since 2004 when she joined the historical society. Through the years, she has been Secretary, Treasurer and, since 2018, President of our historical society.
On the heels of National Nurses Day celebrated on May 12th, this talk will feature the accomplishments of Dr. F. Moyra Allen (1921-1996), renowned nursing professor and researcher, and Officer of the Order of Canada. Dr. Allen was a long time resident of Beaconsfield. 
Margaret Purden was one of the first nurses appointed by Dr. Moyra Allen to advance an expanded role for nursing in health care. Although the centre had a limited run from 1977 to 1979, many important advances in nursing education and practice can be traced back to this influential work.
A native Quebecer, Frank Mackey retired from the Montreal Gazette in 2008 after working as a reporter/editor in Alberta, Newfoundland, Montreal, Quebec and London (Eng.). He also taught journalism at Montreal’s Concordia University. He and his wife have three adult children. He has published three books: Steamboat Connections: Montreal to Upper Canada 1816-1843 (2000); Black Then: Blacks and Montreal, 1780s-1880s (2004); Done with Slavery: The Black Fact in Montreal, 1760-1840 (2010), the latter translated into French as L’esclavage et les Noirs à Montréal, 1760-1840 (2013). His latest book, The Great Absquatulator, is due out May 1, 2022.
During the Second World War, a secret laboratory studying nuclear energy was set up at the Université de Montréal, hosting some of the greatest Canadian and European scientists. To mark Women's Day on March 8, Gilles Sabourin will share with us the significant contribution that women were able to make to this project. Alma Chackett, one of the scientists on the project, gave Gilles a photo of a house in Beaurepaire used by the scientists as a resting place.
Gilles Sabourin is a nuclear engineer specialized in the safety of nuclear power plants. He worked for more than twenty years for the Montréal office of Atomic Energy of Canada. "Montréal et la bombe", very well translated under the title “Montreal and the Bomb” is the result of fifteen years of intensive research into the atomic energy adventure in Montreal during the Second World War.
Adrian Willison will introduce us to the Youth Programs put in place by the Beaurepaire Christ Church from the 1950's till around 1975.
Terry Mosher has been cartooning since 1967 under the pen name AISLIN. While Aislin’s career has been principally associated with the English-language newspaper