Fonds 1062 - Boulkind-Fish Family Fonds

Samuel Boulkind (1884-1966) was a pharmacist and polyglot based in Montreal. He was the first Jewish president of the Collège des pharmaciennes du Québec. He was born circa 1884 in Bialostok, Poland and grew up in Rishon-le-Zion, Palestine. His parents were Russian-born, Elkanan Boulkind (Elchanan Greenberg Bolkind) and Rebecca "Rivka" Metzig (Moshe Hacohen Metsik) and came to Palestine as pioneers. They remained there after Samuel immigrated to Canada circa 1904.

Samuel completed a pharmacy degree at Laval University (later University of Montreal) in Quebec City, which was also the home of his future wife Fanny Fish. The couple moved to Montreal where Samuel opened successful pharmacies in the Jewish ghetto area around Boulevard St-Laurent as well as further east into the traditionally French-Canadian area.

Because of his up-bringing in Palestine, Samuel spoke multiple languages, including French, English, Yiddish, Hebrew, German, and Arabic. His skill with Eastern European languages allowed him to expand his pharmacy business to include mail-order requests from immigrants around Montreal, Quebec, eastern Canada and even into the United States.

Fanny Boulkind (c. 1888-1953), née Fish, was born to Abraham Fish and Sarah Katz in Quebec City. The Fish Family were one of the Jewish pioneer families in Quebec City, originally from Austria and moved to Montreal in 1914.

She married Samuel Boulkind on September 8th, 1909, and had three children: Henry, Mabel, and Gwendolyn.

Henry Boulkind (1911-2004) was a lawyer from Montreal. He was the first-born son of Samuel Boulkind and Fanny Fish. He attended McGill University, the Université de Montréal, and the McGill University School of Law. During WWII, he served as a legal officer with the Canadian Air Force in the Judge Advocate General Corps. He practiced law in Montreal for most of his career, later becoming a broker.

Mabel “Mae” Heaps (1913-2008) was a journalist from Montreal. She was the daughter of Samuel Boulkind and Fanny Fish, born in Montreal. She attended McGill University where she completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1934 and a Master of Arts in 1938. She married David Heaps in 1948 and moved to the United States for David’s work. They had at least 3 sons, Jonathan, Alan, and Danny.

During the war years especially Mae and her sister Gwen wrote for the Montreal Star family of newspapers under the pseudonym "Boulkind." Their stories were social in nature and covered diverse topics from codebreaking in the RAF, spas for women in the Montreal area, to the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union strike of 1937.

Gwendolyn “Gwen” Heurtevant (1916-2015) was a journalist and editor born in Montreal. She was the daughter of Samuel Boulkind and Fanny Fish. She completed a degree in English Literature at the University of Montreal in 1935 and worked for the Daily News, as well as the North American Newspaper Alliance.

During the war years Gwen and her sister Mae wrote for the Montreal Star family of newspapers under the pseudonym "Boulkind." Their stories were social in nature and covered diverse topics from codebreaking in the RAF, spas for women in the Montreal area, to the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union strike of 1937.

After marrying Francis Heurtevant, they lived in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Paris, France with their two sons, Michael and Marc André.