Goupil, René

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René Goupil (Saint René Goupil) (rənā´ gōōpēl´), c.1607–1642, French missionary, one of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America. He went to Canada in 1640, spent two years assisting the Jesuits as a lay brother, and at the request of Father Isaac Jogues accompanied him on his return to the Huron from Quebec in 1642. Captured on the journey by Iroquois, they were enslaved and cruelly tortured. At that time Goupil took his vows. Not long afterward he was tomahawked near the site of the present Auriesville, N.Y. Feast: Sept. 26 or (among the Jesuits) Mar. 16.