George Munro (November 12, 1825 – April 23, 1896) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

educator and philanthropist from

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Biography

George Munro was born in

West River West River may refer to: Rivers Canada *West River (Antigonish, Nova Scotia) in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia * West River (Pictou, Nova Scotia) in Pictou County, Nova Scotia * West River (Halifax, Nova Scotia) in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia * West ...

Pictou County, Nova Scotia Pictou County is a county in the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. It was established in 1835, and was formerly a part of Halifax County from 1759 to 1835. It had a population of 43,657 people in 2021, a decline of 0.2 percent from 2016. Furthermo ...

. After basic schooling he became an apprentice at the age of 12 with a local newspaper known as ''The Observer''. After two years he continued his education attending the New Glasgow School from 1839 to 1842. After this he taught for a year to raise enough money to attend

Pictou Academy Pictou Academy (PA), founded in 1815 by Dr. Thomas McCulloch, is a secondary school in Pictou, Nova Scotia. Prior to the twentieth century, it was a grammar school; a liberal, nonsectarian degree-granting college; and then a secondary school. Picto ...

. Around 1850, Munro moved to Halifax and taught

natural philosophy Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior throu ...

and

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

at the Free Church Academy. He eventually became the school's principal before leaving for

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in 1856. Five years later in 1861, he joined the publishing firm Irwin P. Beadle and Company. In 1863 the firm broke up and Munro entered in a partnership with

Beadle A beadle, sometimes spelled bedel, is an official of a church or synagogue who may usher, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational, or ceremonial duties on the ...

and ended up owning the company a year later. Munro became affluent from his publishing company and in 1879 began donating to

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the fou ...

under the influence of his brother-in-law, a member of the university's Board of Governors. At the time Dalhousie's total income was only $6,600, and the university was in danger of shutting down. Munro donated the institution a total of $333,000 (about $8 million in today's money), which included endowed professorships and bursaries. He died in

Pine Hill, New York Pine Hill is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in the western part of the town of Shandaken in Ulster County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a total population of 275. History Pine Hill became an important to ...

on April 23, 1896. To commemorate his generosity, a university

holiday A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...

Munro Day Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus in Saint John, New Brunswick. Dalhousie offer ...

, is celebrated each year on the first Friday of February.

References

External links

Biography at the ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munro, George 1825 births 1896 deaths Canadian educators Canadian philanthropists Dalhousie University Pre-Confederation Canadian businesspeople People from Pictou County Colony of Nova Scotia people Canadian people of Scottish descent 19th-century philanthropists