Manuel Gilman Batshaw (17 April 1915 – 18 July 2016) was a Canadian

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

and is best known for being the founder of

Batshaw Youth and Family Centres Batshaw Youth and Family Centres (also known as Batshaw, Batshaw Centres, or Batshaw Youth and Family Services), is a government funded organization in Montreal, Quebec, Canada that is devoted to the welfare of children and their families. Batsh ...

. He spent more than 50 years in the field of social work in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. In the 1970s, he was active in assisting Vietnamese

boat people Vietnamese boat people ( vi, Thuyền nhân Việt Nam), also known simply as boat people, refers to the refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its h ...

refugees. In 1975, he headed an inquiry into abuses at institutions housing troubled young people, and the Batshaw Committee submitted a report that was the basis for legislation. In 1993, five anglophone institutions merged and were named the Batshaw Youth and Family Centres in his honour. He received an honorary degree from McGill University in 1998 and the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gove ...

in 2003, as well as 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 ...

Early life and family

Batshaw was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1915 to

Russian Jewish The history of the Jews in Russia and areas historically connected with it goes back at least 1,500 years. Jews in Russia have historically constituted a large religious and ethnic diaspora; the Russian Empire at one time hosted the largest pop ...

parents who moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1903. His father was named Tuvier (sometimes referred to as "Moses"); his mother, Golda. He was the youngest of four siblings, one of whom,

Harry Batshaw Harry Batshaw (14 October 1902 – 1984) was a Canadian lawyer and a justice of the Quebec Superior Court. Justice Batshaw was the first Jew to be appointed to a superior court in Canada. Born in 1902 at Dubroŭna, Mogilev Governorate, Rus ...

, was the first Jew to be appointed to a

Superior Court In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases. A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil ...

. Batshaw married Rachel Lewitt in 1940, also a

, and had one child named

Mark Batshaw Mark Levitt Batshaw (born 19 September 1945) is a Canadian-born physician, medical researcher and academic administrator. He is a professor in the department of pediatrics and an associate dean at the George Washington University School of Medi ...

, who later worked in pediatric care and

child development Child development involves the Human development (biology), biological, developmental psychology, psychological and emotional changes that occur in human beings between birth and the conclusion of adolescence. Childhood is divided into 3 stages o ...

. After Rachel Lewitt's death in 1990, Batshaw married his second wife, Ruth Schleien, a longtime volunteer of the

Federation CJA Federation CJA is a Canadian Jewish organization that raises and distributes funds by facilitating and overseeing the delivery of services and programs. * History Federation CJA is one of the oldest Canadian Jewish organizations. CJA was founde ...

. Batshaw graduated from McGill University in 1937 and served in the army as District Social Service Officer, rising quickly through the ranks to become captain. He died on 18 July 2016 at the age of 101.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Batshaw, Manuel G. 1915 births 2016 deaths Canadian social workers Canadian centenarians Canadian Jews Knights of the National Order of Quebec Members of the Order of Canada Men centenarians People from Montreal Canadian chief executives Canadian chief operating officers Jewish centenarians

Early life and family

See also

References