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Virginie Simoneau-Gilbert

Election Year: 2020

Election Constituency: Canada

Scholar Status: Scholar in Residence

Rhodes Identifier: Québec & Pembroke 2020

Virginie Simoneau-Gilbert

Biography

Virginie holds a B.A. in Philosophy and is currently pursuing a Master's Degree at the Université de Montréal. She has a keen interest in animal ethics and legal philosophy. In her Master's thesis, she studies the foundations and evolution of legal personhood, and intends to demonstrate that we should grant non-human animals the status of person not on the basis of moral autonomy, but on the basis of animals' sensitivity to pleasure and pain. Virginie is also highly involved in the Montreal SPCA. In 2019, she wrote a book entitled Au nom des animaux: l'histoire de la SPCA de Montréal (1869 - 2019) which was published as part of the celebrations for the Montreal SPCA's 150th anniversary. Virginie intends to continue her studies in philosophy, with a focus on animals' moral behaviors and capacity to respond to norms.