René Goupil

René Goupil (May 15 1608 – September 29 1642) was a French missionary and the first North American martyr of the Roman Catholic Church.

He was baptized in St-Martin-du-Bois near Angers, France in 1608 on the 15th of May. He volunteered to work with the Jesuits in the hospitals of Quebec. In 1642, he travelled to the Huron missions in New York with Father Isaac Jogues. He was captured by the Iroquois and tortured. After teaching the native children the sign of the cross, he was killed by a tomahawk blow to the head near the current site of Auriesville, New York. He was canonized on 29 June 1930 by Pope Pius XI along with seven other Canadian Martyrs. He is the patron saint of anesthetists.