Yvette Bonny

Yvette Bonny (born 1938) is a Haitian Canadian pediatrician. She arrived in Canada in 1962 where, unusually for a black immigrant, she become established as a doctor. In April 1980, she performed the first bone marrow transplant on a child in eastern Canada. As head of the paediatric bone marrow transplantation unit at Montreal's Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont until 1998, she performed all the transplants herself. From 1972, Bonny was also a professor in the department of medicine at the Université de Montréal. She has received many awards and distinctions including the Order of Canada and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Biography Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 20 July 1938, Yvette Bonny always wanted to become a medical doctor like her grandfather. After she had graduated from the department of medicine at the University of Haiti, in 1962 she arrived in Montreal, Canada, to continue her studies. In addition to her professional commitments, she supported young people from different cultural communities living in Montreal. These included young Haitian immigrants. She has served on the board of Entraide bénévole Kouzin Kouzin’, an organization which strives to integrate young people into Quebec society. She has also contributed to Leucan in its quest to support children suffering from cancer and their families.