Mr. Frank W. Remiggi

Passed away in Montreal, on September 3rd, following a long and debilitating illness. Formerly a professor of geography at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), he completed his undergraduate degree (joint-honours anthropology and geography) at McGill University, after which he attended the Memorial University of Newfoundland where he undertook a Master’s degree in historical geography. He returned subsequently to McGill where he obtained his PhD. Initially a sessional lecturer at McGill’s French-Canadian Studies Center, he began his long UQAM career in September 1978, retiring in June 2012.

Known for his rigour and exacting standards, Professor Remiggi very much loved teaching and lecturing. He especially enjoyed his contact with students, be it in graduate seminars, surrounded by a handful of participants, or in introductory undergraduate courses often in amphitheatres filled with more than a hundred students.

Never a strong proponent of the publish-or-perish school of thought, Dr. Remiggi preferred to focus instead on research projects that were particularly challenging and that required minute, long-term investigation. He was convinced moreover of the many benefits of interdisciplinary research. As such, he worked for over twelve years with specialists in religious studies, a collaboration that led to the publication of the “Atlas historique des pratiques religieuses : le sud-ouest du Québec au XIXe siècle”. With colleagues in gay and lesbian studies, he also co-directed the seminal reader “Sortir de l’ombre: histoires des communautés lesbienne et gaie de Montréal”. He later took part in the work of the Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire sur le Montréal ethnoreligieux (GRIMER) and the Chaire de recherche en immigration, ethnicité et citoyenneté (CRIEC).

Dr. Remiggi was active, finally, in promoting the idea that geography is a discipline capable of contributing to the development of society, hence his long-standing involvement with the former Association professionnelle des géographes du Québec (APGQ), notably as scientific adviser, treasurer and president from 1987 to 2012.

Son of the late Jack Remiggi and the late Albina Beauchamp, Frank Remiggi was born in Montreal in 1951. He leaves to mourn his sisters Maria, Reina-Ann (Yvon Monette) and Gina (Bob Sobol), as well as nieces and nephews, many friends and family spread out across Québec, Newfoundland, Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia, the USA and the UK.

In lieu of flowers, donations to Fondation de l’UQAM and Maison du Père would be appreciated.