Norman Alexander Robertson, (March 4, 1904 – July 16, 1968) was a
Canadian diplomat
A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
and was one of Prime Minister
Mackenzie King
William Lyon Mackenzie King (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was a Canadian statesman and politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Li ...
's advisers.
Background and early life
Born in
Vancouver,
British Columbia, he was educated at the
University of British Columbia and was a
Rhodes Scholar
The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom.
Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...
attending
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...
.
In 1929 he started with the
Department of External Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...
.
Senior diplomatic appointments
In 1941, he became Under Secretary of State for External Affairs.
From 1946 to 1949 and 1952 to 1957, he was Canadian High Commissioner in
London, during which time he participated at the
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II as Standard Bearer, and from 1957 to 1958 he was Canadian
Ambassador
An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...
in
Washington, D.C.
Honours; death
In 1967, he was made a Companion of the
Order of Canada. Robertson is buried at
Maclaren Cemetery in
Wakefield, Quebec.
Robertson is buried at the same cemetery as fellow diplomats and friends
Hume Wrong
Humphrey Hume Wrong (September 10, 1894 – January 24, 1954) was a Canadian historian, professor, career diplomat, and Canada's ambassador to the United States.
Background and early life
Wrong was the grandson of Liberal Party leader Edward ...
and
Lester B. Pearson.
References
*
Further reading
* Granatstein, J. L. ''A man of influence: Norman A. Robertson and Canadian statecraft, 1929-68'' (1981) scholarly biography
online
External links
Norman Alexander Robertsonat
The Canadian Encyclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Norman Alexander
1904 births
1968 deaths
Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Ambassadors of Canada to the United States
Canadian Rhodes Scholars
Clerks of the Privy Council (Canada)
Companions of the Order of Canada
High Commissioners of Canada to the United Kingdom
People from Vancouver
University of British Columbia alumni