To hear York University Professor Emeritus Hédi Bouraoui speak of the late Elizabeth Sabiston, a professor emerita at York and Bouraoui’s partner of 63 years, is to glimpse a life shaped by intellect and deepened by the quiet certainties of love.
The couple’s journey together took them from York University’s lecture halls to a life built on devotion, respect and shared academic pursuits.
And now, that journey will continue with Bouraoui’s establishment of the Elizabeth (Betty) Sabiston Graduate Scholarship in the Study of Women, to be housed within York’s Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS). Funded by a transformative gift of $2.5 million, the scholarship will ensure that research in women’s studies remains a central focus for future scholars.
“We are deeply grateful to Professor Bouraoui for this generous gift,” says Rhonda Lenton, York University president and vice-chancellor. “This scholarship will not only provide meaningful support to our graduate students for generations to come but also ensure that Professor Sabiston’s legacy lives on in the bright scholars who are catalyzing positive change in their fields.”
Sabiston began teaching at York University in 1973, where she earned the admiration of students and colleagues alike. She specialized in 19th- and 20th-century literature – with a particular focus on women authors – and published several notable works of her own.
Eventually, Sabiston served at Stong College as senior tutor from 1983 to 1989 and head of the college from 1983 to 1984. Although she retired in 2006, Sabiston remained involved with the University until 2017, serving on the executive board of the York University Association of Retired Faculty and Librarians.
At the time of her passing in 2023, Sabiston held the title of professor emerita in York’s Department of English.
“We are deeply grateful to both Professor Sabiston and Professor Bouraoui for their many years of devotion and commitment to our students,” says J.J. McMurtry, dean of LA&PS. “This scholarship will inspire students and researchers to engage deeply with women’s studies, just as Professor Sabiston did throughout her career at York.”
In addition to the current gift for the Sabiston Scholarships, Bouraoui has also pledged an additional gift of $1.5 million in support of the Hédi Bouraoui Graduate Fellowship in Liberal Arts and the Hédi Bouraoui Research Fund, reinforcing a lifelong commitment to the humanities and to graduate students.
Bouraoui is one of York University’s first faculty members and one of Canada’s foremost poets, novelists and academics, having authored 20 books of poetry, a dozen novels and countless books of literary criticism. He is a member of the Order of Canada, the former Chair of French Studies at York, and the former head of Stong College.
The new Sabiston scholarships and the future Bouraoui gifts represent a total commitment of $4 million.
“For Betty and me, supporting graduate students is our life’s work,” says. Bouraoui. “To be able to help these bright young scholars financially as they pursue their research – and honour Betty at the same time – means so much.”
When Bouraoui recalls their time as graduate students, he says it was full of sacrifices and hard work. He says he hopes these new awards will ease future students’ financial burdens and allow them to focus on their studies and research.
Bouraoui says it was their intellectual collaboration that he and his partner cherished most, including her books The Muse Strikes Back: Female Narratology in the Novels of Hédi Bouraoui (2005) and Perspectives Critiques: L’Oeuvre d’Hédi Bouraoui (2007).
“She was, in one word, exceptional. She was my life,” says Bouraoui. “She was my other half. Without Betty, I wouldn’t be who I am.”