Jean-Marie Coquard

Jean-Marie Coquard, SMA (27 November 1859 – 27 June 1933) was a French Christian medical missionary who traveled to Abeokuta, Nigeria, which is the capital of the Ogun State, to provide surgery and care.

[1] He established the Sacred Heart Hospital in Abeokuta, and was the longest serving missionary of the Society of African Missions, receiving an OBE for his work.

[1] Jean-Marie Coquard was born on November 27, 1859, in the Diocese of Nantes, France into a Catholic working-class family.

He left Europe in November the same year after a formal departure ceremony which the Cardinal Archbishop of Lyon attended.

[1] When they landed in Lagos after twenty-five days at sea, Coquard was greeted by excited school children and stood in awe at the benediction.

[2] At the mission, there were no actual medical professionals, but they received permission from the Propaganda Fide for the clergy to perform surgery.

He described the Egba people living in Abeokuta and stressed that often patients left the mission not only cured of illness but also converted.

In response to his articles, European readers of the journal sent him medical equipment and books as well as church props such as altar cloths.

[1] Coquard was convinced of the importance of his medical work for the mission, and he began advocating for the hospital despite the blatant lack of resources.

The funds were a considerable help since the mission was barely staying afloat, and the financial boost allowed Coquard's hospital to be approved.

He used the new project as a way to ensure his continued position at the mission, and in 1902, he was named visitor, responsible for the spiritual welfare of the confreres.

On May 5, 1911, with the Alake, his court, and members of the government in attendance, the new Sacred Heart Hospital was opened by the governor of Lagos, Sir Walter Egerton, who had also laid the foundation stone in 1904.

Because Coquard had brought the mission into debt, repeatedly disobeyed Bishop Terrien's orders and was now disrespecting his supervisors, many wanted him to be removed.

[1] In 1923, he tried to implement a nursing sisterhood since there were so many women, both young and old, who spent their lives working at the hospital but never earned a degree.