Armstrong, George Eli, 1854-1933

Dr. George Eli Armstrong was born on June 15, 1854, in Leeds, Quebec.

He was a Canadian surgeon and educator. He graduated from McGill University (M.D., 1877) and continued his postgraduate training in renowned medical schools in England, Germany, and France. At the Radium Institute in Paris he investigated therapeutic uses of this element and later introduced these techniques to Montreal. He was a surgeon at the Montreal General Hospital until 1911, when he was appointed Chief of Surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital, a position he held until his retirement in 1923. He also became a Professor of Anatomy in the faculty of medicine at Bishop’s College in Montreal, teaching physiology from 1883 to 1891. Subsequently, he began a brilliant career at McGill University, initially as a senior lecturer, then as an assistant professor (1896), and finally as a full Professor of Surgery (1907). During World War I, he served as a consulting surgeon in The Canadian Army Medical Corps in England. He was given the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1917. He was also Dean of Medicine at McGill for one year before he retired. Dr. Armstrong was a past president of the Canadian Medical Association, the American Surgical Association, and the American College of Surgeons. He was actively involved in producing the Montreal Medical Journal, McGill University’s medical and surgical review, which in 1911 became known as the Journal of the Canadian Medical Association. He published numerous papers on medical subjects that brought him international recognition. Recognized as one of the best surgeons of his time, Dr. Armstrong distinguished himself not only by his outstanding surgical skills but also by the quality of his teaching and his participation in the Canadian Army Medical Corps during World War I.

In 1878, he married Mary Hadley (1852-1909), and, in 1917, he remarried Jessie Reid (1881–1966). He died on May 23, 1955, in Montreal, Canada.