Inauguration Speech of the Radium Institute

Inauguration speech of the Radium Institute, delivered by Ernest Gendreau in April 1923 as reported in the Archives of the Grey Nuns of Montréal:

On April 3, 1923, the Honourable Premier and the Honourable Provincial Secretary attended the inauguration of the project to which they had lent their precious sponsorship.

The Institute’s Director would say to them, essentially: “Dear Ministers, although I have never been in politics, I know that true politics must a drive towards civilization; its mission is to promote the happiness of a people through material, intellectual and moral progress, which is why I shall not hesitate to assert that the enterprise you have come to inaugurate tonight is one of healthy politics and true civilization.

Currently in incurable wards, like Prometheus chained to his rock, poor souls are eaten alive. What you bring them today is a promise of hope, and it is on your hands that they will press their lips, and honour you with their gratitude.

Thank you for your kindness towards these desperate souls, that they may find solace. May the glint of gratefulness in their eyes shine on your life, as softly as the phosphorescent glow on the radioactive photographs that I give you today on behalf of the university.

Thank you for beating new intellectual paths and allowing us to reach the edges of these yet unknown scientific forests, where the axe of the French-Canadian lumberjack has yet to fell its first tree.

Thank you for putting your trust in the Université de Montréal.”