Jeanne Mance was a French nurse and settler who played a central role in the early colonization of New France. Born in Langres in 1606, she traveled to North America in 1641 to join the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal. Alongside Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, she helped establish the city of Montreal in 1642. She is primarily remembered for founding the Hôtel-Dieu de Montreal in 1645, where she provided medical care and managed hospital operations for many years, eventually recruiting religious sisters to ensure the institution's continuity.