Roy Fraser Elliott (25 November 1921 – 26 January 2005) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

lawyer, supporter of the arts, and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

Early life and education

Elliott was born in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, a son to Colin Fraser Elliott (at one time, the Deputy Minister of Finance of Canada) and Marjorie Sypher. His younger sister, Marjorie Elliott Sypher, served as the First Lady of Costa Rica from 1974 to 1978. He earned a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

degree in 1943 from Queen's University, a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LLB) degree from

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...

in 1946, and a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

degree from the

Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 1947. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1946 and the Quebec Bar in 1948.

Career and other activities

He founded the law firm of Stikeman Elliott, specializing in tax and corporate law, with H. Heward Stikeman in 1952. Stikeman Elliott became and remains one of the largest and most successful law firms in Canada. Fraser convinced the former

premier of Ontario The premier of Ontario () is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typically sits as a member of Provincia ...

John Robarts John Parmenter Robarts (January 11, 1917 – October 18, 1982) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th premier of Ontario from 1961 to 1971. He was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. Early life Roba ...

, to join the law firm's small Toronto office instead of joining one of several major firms that were wooing him. He was once chairman of the board, the largest shareholder, and had been a director since 1951 of CAE Industries Ltd. He also served on the boards of

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC; ) is a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered at CIBC Square in the Financial District, Toronto, Financial District of Toronto, Ont ...

, Larfarge Corp., Montreal Shipping Inc. and Standard Broadcasting Corp. Ltd. He was president of the

Art Gallery of Ontario The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; ) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located on Dundas Street, Dundas Street West in the Grange Park (neighbourhood), Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, the museum complex takes up of phys ...

and served on the boards of directors of the

Toronto Symphony Orchestra The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toron ...

and the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performin ...

. He was Chairman Emeritus of the Toronto General and Western Hospital Foundation. In 1980, he was made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

.Order of Canada
/ref> In 2001, CAE donated $1,000,000 for the creation of the R. Fraser Elliott Scholarship and Laboratory Program at the ''

École Polytechnique (, ; also known as Polytechnique or l'X ) is a ''grande école'' located in Palaiseau, France. It specializes in science and engineering and is a founding member of the Polytechnic Institute of Paris. The school was founded in 1794 by mat ...

'' and the ''

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

''. The Canadian Opera Company's R. Fraser Elliott Hall and the

Toronto General Hospital The Toronto General Hospital (TGH) is a major teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the flagship campus of University Health Network (UHN). It is located in the Discovery District of Downtown Toronto along University Avenue (Toronto), ...

's R. Fraser Elliot Wing are named in his honour.

Family

He married Elizabeth Ann (Betty-Ann) McNicoll in 1955. They had six children: Fraser; Ann; Allison; Adrian; Jordan; and Alexandra, and, later, 15 grandchildren: Robin, Fraser, Robert, Judith, Virginia, Patrick, Andrew, Sara-Nicole, Elizabeth-Rose, Samantha, Margaret, Charles, Ann, Elizabeth-Ann, Jordan, .

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Fraser 1921 births 2005 deaths Canadian Anglicans Members of the Order of Canada Queen's University at Kingston alumni Harvard Business School alumni Canadian expatriates in the United States Lawyers from Ottawa Osgoode Hall Law School alumni Canadian philanthropists Lawyers from Toronto Law firm founders

Early life and education

Career and other activities

Family

Further reading

References