Marc Lépine

Marc Lépine

Marc Lépine was born Gamil Rodrigue Liass Gharbi on October 26, 1964, in Montreal, Quebec. He was the son of a Canadian nurse and an Algerian businessman. He changed his name from Gamil to Marc at the age of 14 due to his hatred of his father, who was abusive and contemptuous of women. On December 6, 1989, he killed 14 women and wounded ten others at the École Polytechnique de Montréal. He claimed he was ‘fighting feminism’ and blamed feminists for ruining his life.

About Marc Lépine in brief

Summary Marc LépineMarc Lépine was born Gamil Rodrigue Liass Gharbi on October 26, 1964, in Montreal, Quebec. He was the son of a Canadian nurse and an Algerian businessman. He changed his name from Gamil to Marc at the age of 14 due to his hatred of his father, who was abusive and contemptuous of women. On December 6, 1989, he killed 14 women and wounded ten others at the École Polytechnique de Montréal. He claimed he was ‘fighting feminism’ and blamed feminists for ruining his life. The massacre is regarded by criminologists as an example of a hate crime against women, and by feminists and government officials as misogynist attack and an issue of violence against women. December 6 is now observed in Canada as a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head in a Montreal morgue on December 8, 1989. He had long complained about women working in ‘non-traditional’ jobs. His suicide note blamed his father for being abusive and neglectful towards his children, particularly his son, Gamil and his younger sister, Nadia. The family moved frequently, and much of Lé Pine’s early childhood was spent in Costa Rica and Puerto Rico, where his father was working for a Swiss mutual funds company. His father was a non-practising Muslim, and Monique a former Catholic nun who had rejected organized religion after she left the convent.

The couple separated in 1971, and the divorce was finalized in 1976. Lé pine was considered bright but withdrawn, and had difficulties with peer and family relationships. He twice applied for admission to theÉcolePolytechnique, but lacked two required compulsory courses. In 1986, he dropped out of the course in his final term, and was subsequently fired from his job at a hospital. In 1988, he began a computer programming course in 1988, and again abandoned it before completion. He then moved into other parts of the building, targeting only the women, before killing himself. He left a suicide note blaming his wife, Monique, and his mother-in-law for his actions, saying: ‘I am not a monster. I am a man. I love my wife and my children.’ He was also abusive towards his son and discouraged any tenderness, as he considered it spoiling. In 1970, following an incident in which Rachid struck Gamil so hard that the marks were visible on his face were visible. Gamil’s mother and younger sister lived with his father and at first saw him on weekly visits, but soon after their home and possessions were seized. The children were seized by his father as Rachil was afraid of Gamil. The parents divorced in 1976, and Gamil moved with his mother and Nadia; soon after, their mother and his sister moved with him to Costa Rica, where she lived with her father and her husband.