Twenty years ago today 14 women — 13 students and a staff member — were murdered on the campus of Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique. Their killer, Marc Lepine, targeted female students in an engineering class and claimed to be “fighting feminism.”
Here’s an article that looks back at the shootings, their aftermath, and the larger struggle against misogynist violence. I’ll update this post with more links and info about memorials as the day goes on.
A reader reminds me that it would be appropriate to acknowledge the women who died by name. They were Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, and Barbara Klucznick-Widajewicz.
Updates…
A survivor of the massacre — then an engineering student, now a government official and a mother of four — comes to terms with her feminism.
The website of a group holding a campus candlelight vigil tonight.
An essay on the impact of the killings on Canadian society.
A collection of links from Spare Candy, one of my new favorite blogs.
studentactivism.net 
6 comments
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December 6, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Derek
Let’s acknowledge the names of the women who were killed, not only their murderer:
Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, Barbara Klucznick-Widajewicz
Thanks for collecting these links.
December 6, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Angus Johnston
Thank you. You’re right.
December 8, 2009 at 11:54 pm
I’m Sorry; I Forgot. | ThePolitic.com
[…] the economy – it is easy to forget. Thankfully, Scott H. Payne remembered. So did Angus Johnston. And […]
December 9, 2009 at 3:52 am
Arthur
The Montreal massacre has nothing to do with feminism. Take a look at this analysis:
http://srebrenica-genocide.blogspot.com/2009/12/ecole-polytechnique-massacre-montreal.html
December 9, 2009 at 9:39 am
Angus Johnston
That link doesn’t suggest that the killings had “nothing to do with feminism,” it says that the women killed should be remembered “as human beings, not objects of gender-based politics.”
It’s not at all clear why you consider a recognition of the social context of the massacre to be incompatible with a recognition of the victims’ humanity, other than your apparent hostility to feminism. To me it seems obvious that both aspects of the tragedy are deserving of remembrance.
December 9, 2009 at 9:55 am
Jonathan
I must agree with you Angus. To use the massacre for purposes of political opportunism is wrong, but that does not mean we must ignore all political aspects of the event. We can certainly remember the attacks as a senseless murder of 14 people and a senseless murder of 14 women.