Norman Alexander Robertson, (March 4, 1904 – July 16, 1968) 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 ...

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 interna ...

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 L ...

's advisers.

Background and early life

Born in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

, he was educated at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thr ...

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 ...

. 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 London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, during which time he participated at the

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

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 s ...

in Washington, D.C.

Honours; death

In 1967, 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 cen ...

. Robertson is buried at Maclaren Cemetery in

Wakefield, Quebec Wakefield is one of many villages of the Municipality La Pêche, with the village centre on the western shore of the Gatineau River, at the confluence of the La Pêche River in the Outaouais region of the province of Quebec in Canada. It is thirty- ...

. Robertson is buried at the same cemetery as fellow diplomats and friends Hume Wrong and Lester B. Pearson.

References

External links

Norman Alexander Robertson
at

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 f ...

{{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

Background and early life

Senior diplomatic appointments

Honours; death

References

Further reading

External links