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

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

who played a central part in the foundation of

Greenpeace International Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by a group of environmental activists. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity" and focuses its ...

. An excellent all-around athlete, as a young man he won three consecutive Canadian National Badminton Championships in men's singles (1956–1958) and represented that country in badminton's

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes referred as 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 h ...

(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 act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

the testing of

nuclear weapons A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either nuclear fission, fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and nuclear fusion, fusion reactions (thermonuclear weap ...

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 the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

by the

French government The Government of France (, ), officially the Government of the French Republic (, ), exercises Executive (government), executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister of France, prime minister, who is the head of government, ...

. 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 Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the performance of nuclear weapons and the effects of Nuclear explosion, their explosion. Nuclear testing is a sensitive political issue. Governments have often performed tests to si ...

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 The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and chief spokesman for Greenpeace in 1979, retiring in 1991 to live on an olive farm in Paciano,

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

, 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 November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

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 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 Oceania, Oceanic music group that performs original contemporary Pacific music or "South Pacific Fusion". The group was founded in 1995 by singer and songwriter Opetaia Foaʻi in New Zealand. They have tou ...

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 Disarmo.http://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 20th-century Canadian sportsmen

See also

References

External links