Claire Quintal, Ph.D., 90, founding director emerita of the French Institute at Assumption, passed away on April 30. Quintal was renowned as a French and Franco-American studies scholar, an internationally and nationally known speaker, author, editor, and translator. A graduate of Anna Maria College, she taught at the secondary school level in Central Falls, RI, before receiving a master’s degree in French from the University of Montreal and a doctorate from the Sorbonne. She pursued her academic career as a college and university professor at American College in Paris, Clark University, and Assumption. In addition to founding the French Institute, Quintal served as dean of Assumption’s Graduate School and was awarded an honorary degree from Assumption in 1998.
Quintal, a chevalier of France’s Legion of Honor and an officer in its National Order of Merit, was among the first group of Americans to be awarded the congressionally sponsored Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1986. In 2008, she helped create and dedicate the Franco-American Monument in Quebec.
Though retired, Quintal continued her work translating, lecturing, writing, and consulting for former colleagues and other academics in need of her wide expertise.
