George Ramsay Cook (28 November 1931 – 14 July 2016) was a Canadian historian and general editor of the ''

Dictionary of Canadian Biography The ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'' (''DCB''; french: Dictionnaire biographique du Canada) is a dictionary of biographical entries for individuals who have contributed to the history of Canada. The ''DCB'', which was initiated in 1959, is a ...

''. He was professor of history at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, 1958–1968;

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, 1969–1996; Visiting Professor of Canadian Studies,

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, 1968–69; Visiting Professor, and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, 1978–79 and 1997. Through his championing of so-called "limited identities", Cook contributed to the rise of the New Social History, which uses "class, gender and ethnicity" as its three main categories of analysis. Cook's conception of "limited identities" was famously formulated in an article in the ''International Journal'' in 1967, Canada's centenary year, reviewing the state of contemporary scholarship on

Canadian nationalism Canadian nationalism seeks to promote the unity, independence, and well-being of Canada and the Canadian people. Canadian nationalism has been a significant political force since the 19th century and has typically manifested itself as seeking t ...

: During his teaching career, Cook supervised the work of 39 PhD students and many prominent social historians such as

Franca Iacovetta Franca Iacovetta (born 1957) is a " feminist/socialist" historian of labour and migration currently working at the University of Toronto. Her dissertation, published as ''Such Hardworking People: Italian Immigrants in Postwar Toronto'', was supe ...

. In 1997, the Ramsay Cook Research Scholarship was established at York University to honour his contribution to the field of history. He publicly supported

Pierre Elliott Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and ...

in his successful attempt to gain the leadership of the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' ...

in 1968. He was married to Eleanor Cook, an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

at the University of Toronto.

Honours

Cook received the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

for non-fiction in 1985 for ''The Regenerators: Social Criticism in Late Victorian English Canada.'' He is a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

and was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 1986. He was awarded the

Order of the Sacred Treasure The is a Japanese order, established on 4 January 1888 by Emperor Meiji as the Order of Meiji. Originally awarded in eight classes (from 8th to 1st, in ascending order of importance), since 2003 it has been awarded in six classes, the lowest ...

by the Japanese government in 1994.L'Harmattan web site (in French)
/ref> In 2005, Cook received the

Molson Prize The Thomas Henry Pentland Molson Prize for the Arts is awarded by the Canada Council, Canada Council for the Arts. Two prizes are awarded annually to distinguished individuals. One prize is awarded in the arts, one in the social sciences and human ...

in Social Sciences and Humanities.

Selected works

*''The Politics of John W. Dafoe and the Free Press'', 1963. *''Canada and the French Canadian Question'', 1966. *''The Maple Leaf Forever: Essays on Nationalism and Politics in Canada'', 1971. *''Canada 1896–1921: A Nation Transformed'', with Robert Craig Brown, 1975. (Part of '' The Canadian Centenary Series.'') *''The Regenerators: Social Criticism in Late Victorian English Canada'', 1985. *''Canada, Quebec and the Uses of Nationalism'', 1986. *''The Teeth of Time, Remembering Pierre Elliot Trudeau'', 2006.

References

External links

Historian Ramsay Cook helped define modern Canada
Globe and Mail obituary by John Ibbitson, 2016 July 22 (accessed 2 October 2016)
George Ramsay Cook entry at ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Ramsay 1931 births 2016 deaths 20th-century Canadian historians 21st-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Governor General's Award-winning non-fiction writers Historians of Canada Officers of the Order of Canada Queen's University at Kingston alumni Social historians University of Toronto alumni University of Toronto faculty Writers from Saskatchewan Writers from Toronto York University faculty Presidents of the Canadian Historical Association

Honours

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links