David Fraser McTaggart (June 24, 1932 – March 23, 2001) was a Canadian-born

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

who played a central part in the foundation of

Greenpeace International Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

. An excellent all-around athlete, as a young man he won three consecutive

Canadian National Badminton Championships The Canadian National Badminton Championships is a tournament organized to crown the best badminton players in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the P ...

in men's singles (1956–1958) and represented that country in badminton's

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships ha ...

(men's world team championship) competition. Prior to his involvement in Greenpeace he had prospered as a builder and developer. In 1972, responding to an ad in the newspapers, he used his personal boat to

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...

the testing of nuclear weapons in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

by the

French government The Government of France (French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who i ...

. After getting his boat damaged and being physically hurt by the French Military, his protest succeeded in 1974 when the French announced the end of their atmospheric nuclear testing program. McTaggart spent the next several years pursuing legal action against the French government and assisting in the formation of Greenpeace affiliates across Western Europe. In 1979 he brokered an agreement that led to the formation of Greenpeace International, ending the leadership of the original founding group based in Vancouver, Canada. He became chairman and chief spokesman for Greenpeace in 1979, retiring in 1991 to live on an olive farm in Paciano,

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

, Italy. McTaggart continued to participate in Greenpeace forums after retirement for the rest of his life. He and singer

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

did a massive postcard campaign to help create the Southern Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. For nearly two years they toured the world asking thousands of concert goers to write to countries involved with whaling to support the sanctuary. The

Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary The Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary is an area of 50 million square kilometres surrounding the continent of Antarctica where the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has banned all types of commercial whaling. To date, the IWC has designated two ...

was established by the IWC in 1994 with 23 countries supporting the agreement and Japan opposing it.

Te Vaka Te Vaka (English: ''The Canoe'') is an Oceanic music group that performs original contemporary Pacific music or "South Pacific Fusion". The group was founded in 1995 by singer and songwriter Opetaia Foa'i in New Zealand. They have toured the wo ...

dedicated its song "Sei Ma Le Losa" to McTaggart, who was killed in a car accident on March 23, 2001, near his home in Italy. In 1987 McTaggart founded th
Third Millennium Foundation
a US 501(c)(3) dedicated to continuing his work for disarmament, peace, and a sustainable future. The foundation, headquartered in his former home in Paciano, Italy, continues today promoting local and global projects in his memory. In 1996 he received the journalistic prize ''Golden Doves for Peace'' issued by the Italian Research Institute Archivio Disarmohttp://www.archiviodisarmo.it/images/pdf/list.pdf

References

External links

David Fraser McTaggart: 1932–2001David McTaggart, Biography of a LeaderThird Millennium Foundation, David McTaggart's foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mctaggart, David 1932 births 2001 deaths People associated with Greenpeace Canadian environmentalists Canadian activists Canadian anti–nuclear weapons activists Road incident deaths in Italy Canadian male badminton players

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References

External links