John Wendell Holmes

Not to be confused with Oliver Wendell Holmes.
For other people with the same name, see John Holmes.
John Wendell Holmes
Born(1910-06-18)18 June 1910
London, Ontario
Died13 August 1988(1988-08-13) (aged 78)
London, Ontario
Occupation(s)diplomat and academic
AwardsOrder of Canada

John Wendell Holmes OC FRSC (18 June 1910 – 13 August 1988)[1] was a Canadian diplomat and academic.

Born in London, Ontario, Holmes attended the University of Western Ontario and received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Toronto. From 1933 to 1938, he was a master of English at Pickering College. From 1938 to 1940, he attended the University of London. He joined the Department of External Affairs in 1943 as a temporary wartime assistant.[2]

From 1947 to 1948, he was the Canadian Chargé d'Affaires ad interim to the Soviet Union. In 1950, he was appointed Acting Permanent Delegate to the United Nations.[3] He became Assistant Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs in 1953 where he remained until he was forced to resign from the department, in 1960, after admitting to being a homosexual. From 1960 to 1973, Holmes was president (later called director-general) of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs,[4] a non-partisan, non-profit, and non-governmental organization for the discussion and analysis of international affairs.[5]

Holmes was among hundreds of federal civil servants who were targeted in an RCMP homosexual witch hunt that intensified in 1958 and continued through to the mid-1990s, destroying lives, careers and families.[6]

From 1971 to 1981, he was a professor of international relations at York University, Glendon College. From 1967 until his death, he was a visiting professor of international relations at the University of Toronto. He was also a visiting professor of history at the University of Leeds in 1979 and 1985.[7]

He was the author of Life with Uncle: the Canadian-American Relationship (1981) and The Shaping of Peace: Canada and the Search for World Order 1943-1957 (2 volumes, 1979 and 1982). In 1986, he was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's J. B. Tyrrell Historical Medal in recognition of these volumes.[8]

In 1969, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.[9] He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the recipient of 10 honorary doctorates.[4]

  1. ^ Hillmer, Norman (19 March 2019). "John Wendell Holmes". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Archived from the original on 2011-06-08.
  2. ^ "John Wendell Holmes Former Canadian envoy turned to teaching career". The Globe and Mail. August 15, 1988. p. A13.
  3. ^ "Heads of Post List: John Wendell Holmes". Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Archived from the original on 2004-09-04. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
  4. ^ a b "LLOYD AXWORTHY ANNOUNCES OUTREACH FUND HONOURING JOHN HOLMES". Archived from the original on 2011-07-02. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
  5. ^ "About Us". Canadian Institute of International Affairs. Archived from the original on 2007-10-19. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
  6. ^ "Book examines human tragedy of RCMP gay purge".[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "John Holmes Memorial Lecture CV". York University. Archived from the original on 2005-10-27.
  8. ^ "J.B. Tyrrell Historical Medal". Royal Society of Canada. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
  9. ^ Order of Canada citation