John Erskine Read, (July 5, 1888 – December 23, 1973) 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, civil servant, and the only Canadian judge elected to the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

Education

Born in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Read graduated from the Dalhousie Law School in 1909. He completed post-graduate studies at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

before receiving a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from

University College, Oxford University College, formally The Master and Fellows of the College of the Great Hall of the University commonly called University College in the University of Oxford and colloquially referred to as "Univ", is a Colleges of the University of Oxf ...

. In 1913, he was called to the Nova Scotia bar and practiced law with the firm of Harris, Henry, Rogers, and Harris. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served with the Canadian Field Artillery where he was wounded and achieved the rank of Major.

Profession

After the war, in 1920, he joined the Faculty of Law at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

. From 1924 to 1929, he was the Dean of the faculty. In 1929, he was appointed Legal Advisor of the Department of External Affairs and rose to become a Deputy Undersecretary of State. While Legal Advisor, he was heavily involved with the Trail Smelter dispute. In 1942, Read devised a method to permit a extraterritorial space for the birth for Princess Margriet of the Netherlands to ensure she was not born on foreign soil, which would have made her ineligible for the royal succession. In 1946, he was elected a member of the

. He was re-appointed for a second term and served until 1958. Returning to Canada, he taught in the Faculty of Law of the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

Honours

In 1967, he was made an Officer 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 ...

"for his services in the profession of law". In 1968, he was awarded an honorary degree from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

. He was the first recipient of the John E. Read Medal, awarded by the Canadian Council on International Law.

References

External links

John Erskine Read
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Read, John 1888 births 1973 deaths Alumni of University College, Oxford Canadian Rhodes Scholars Canadian university and college faculty deans Dalhousie University alumni Academic staff of Dalhousie University International Court of Justice judges Officers of the Order of Canada Academic staff of the University of Ottawa 20th-century Canadian judges Canadian judges of United Nations courts and tribunals