Robert Arthur Douglas Ford, (January 8, 1915 – April 12, 1998) 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 ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

and

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 ...

. Born in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, the son of former ''

London Free Press ''The London Free Press'' is a daily newspaper based in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. It has the largest circulation of any newspaper in Southwestern Ontario. History ''The London Free Press'' began as the ''Canadian Free Press'', ...

'' Editor-in Chief and

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

Chancellor Arthur Ford, he received his B.A. in history and English in 1937 from the University of Western Ontario and a M.A. in history in 1940 from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1940 and was Ambassador to

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

(1957 – 1959),

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

(1959 – 1961),

United Arab Republic The United Arab Republic (UAR; ar, الجمهورية العربية المتحدة, al-Jumhūrīyah al-'Arabīyah al-Muttaḥidah) was a sovereign state in the Middle East from 1958 until 1971. It was initially a political union between Eg ...

(1961 – 1963), and to the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

(1964 – 1980). Ford served as a special representative od Canada at the

1st Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit Conference of Heads of State or Government of the Non-Aligned Movement ( sh, Конференција шефова држава или влада несврстаних земаља / Konferencija šefova država ili vlada nesvrstanih zema ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. In 1971 he was made a Companion 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 ...

Bibliography

* ''Window on the North'', Toronto: The Ryerson Press (1956), winner of the 1956 Governor General's Award for Poetry or Drama * ''The Solitary City'', Toronto : McClelland & Stewart (1969) * ''Holes in Space'', Toronto : Hounslow Press (1979) * ''Needle in the Eye'', Oakville, Ontario : Mosaic Press(1983) * ''Doors, Words, and Silence'', Oakville, Ontario : Mosaic Press(1985) * ''Russian Poetry: A Personal Anthology'', Oakville, Ont.: Mosaic Press (1984) * ''Dostoevsky and Other Poems'', Oakville, Ont., Mosaic Press (1988) * ''Our Man in Moscow'',Toronto: U of Toronto P (1989) * ''Diplomate et Poète à Moscou'' trans. SHERR, Robert (text)

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

: Ed. François-Luc Collignon, 1990. * ''Coming from Afar'', Toronto : McClelland & Stewart, 1990.

References

External links

Robert Ford's
entry in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Robert 1915 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets Companions of the Order of Canada Cornell University alumni Governor General's Award-winning poets Writers from Ottawa University of Western Ontario alumni Ambassadors of Canada to Colombia Ambassadors of Canada to Yugoslavia Ambassadors of Canada to Egypt Ambassadors of Canada to the Soviet Union Ambassadors of Canada to Sudan Ambassadors of Canada to Mongolia 20th-century Canadian male writers

Bibliography

Further reading

References

External links