Sidney Earle Smith

Sidney Earle Smith, PC (March 9, 1897 – March 17, 1959) was a noted academic and Canada's Secretary of State for External Affairs in the government of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.

Born and raised on Nova Scotia's Port Hood Island, he grew up speaking both English and Gaelic. He was an excellent student, and became a lawyer and a professor of law. He lectured at Osgoode Hall, and then at Dalhousie University, By 1929, he was Dean of Dalhousie's law school. In 1934, he left the Maritimes to become president of the University of Manitoba. In 1945, he was appointed the president of the University of Toronto. He remained in that role for twelve years, overseeing a major period of the university's expansion.

Long a strong Conservative, but very much in the Red Tory tradition, Smith became a prominent member of the Progressive Conservative Party. In 1956, he was considered a possibility for the party's leadership, but decided not to run, disappointing those who wished to prevent the populist John Diefenbaker from becoming leader.

After Diefenbaker won a surprise minority government in 1957, Smith was appointed as Secretary of State for External Affairs. Despite Smith's brilliance and popularity in academia, his success in this new role was limited. After holding the position for two years, Smith died suddenly of a stroke in 1959.

Sidney Smith Hall, a main building at the University of Toronto for the humanities and social sciences, is named after him.

References

Martin Friedland, "The University of Toronto: A History." Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002.

External links

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before=James Alexander MacLean
title=President of the University of Manitoba
years=1934–1944
after=Henry Percy Armes, "acting"
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