- Brock Chisholm
Infobox_President | name=Brock Chisholm
nationality=Canadian
order=Director-General of World Health Organization
term_start=1948
term_end=1953
predecessor=none
successor=Marcolino Gomes Candau
birth_date=birth date|1896|5|18|mf=y
birth_place=
death_date=death date and age|1971|2|4|1896|5|18|mf=y
death_place= Victoria, British Columbia
spouse=
party=
vicepresident=George Brock Chisholm CC MC & Bar (18 May 1896 - 4 February 1971) was a Canadian
First World War veteran,medical practitioner , and the first Director-General of theWorld Health Organization (WHO). He was a strong advocate ofreligious tolerance and often commented that man's worst enemy was not disease, which he felt was curable as long as men worked together, but man himself.Chisholm was born in Oakville,
Ontario , to a family with deep ties to the region. Under Sir Isaac Brock, after whom Chisholm was named, his great-grandfather fought against the Americans during theWar of 1812 . His great-grandfather's brother was also Oakville's founder.As an 18-year-old at the start of the
First World War , Chisholm joined theCanadian Expeditionary Force , serving in the15th Battalion, CEF as a cook,sniper ,machine gun ner and scout. His leadership and heroism were twice rewarded: with aMilitary Cross for his efforts in a battle outside of Lens,France , and the Bar. He rose to the rank ofcaptain , was injured once and returned home in 1917.After the war, Chisholm pursued his lifelong passion of
medicine , earning hisM.D. from theUniversity of Toronto by 1924 before interning inEngland , where he specialized inpsychiatry . After six years in general practice in his native Oakville, he attendedYale University where he specialized in the mental health of children. During this time Chisholm developed his strong view that children should be raised in as intellectually free environment as possible, independent of the prejudices and biases - political, moral and religious - of their parents.At the outbreak of the
Second World War , Chisholm rapidly rose in stature within the Canadian military and government. He joined the war effort as apsychiatrist dealing with psychological aspects of soldier training before rising to the rank of Director General of the Medical Services, the highest position within the medical ranks of theCanadian Army . He was the first psychiatrist to head the medical ranks of any army in the world. In 1944, the Canadian Government created the position ofDeputy Minister of Health . Chisholm was first the person to occupy the post and held it until 1946.That same year Chisholm took his views to the international scene, becoming the Executive Secretary of the Interim Commission of the
World Health Organization , based in Geneva,Switzerland . He was one of 16 international experts consulted in drafting the agency's first constitution. The WHO became a permanent UN fixture in April, 1948, and Chisholm became the agency's first Director-General on a 46-2 vote. Chisholm was now in the unique position of being able to brings his views on the importance of international mental and physical health to the world. Refusing re-election, he occupied the post until 1953, during which time the WHO dealt successfully with acholera epidemic inEgypt ,malaria outbreaks inGreece andSardinia , and introduced shortwave epidemic-warning services for ships at sea.Chisholm was a controversial public speaker who nevertheless had great conviction, and drew much cynicism within the Canadian public for comments in the mid-1940s that children should not be encouraged to believe in
Santa Claus . Calls for his resignation as Deputy Minister of Health were quelled by his appointment as Executive Secretary of the WHO, but his public perception as "Canada's most famously articulate angry man" lingered.Chisholm was an Honorary President of the
World Federalists of Canada , President of theWorld Federation of Mental Health (1957 - 1958) and an Honorary Fellow of a number of prestigious medical associations. He received numerous honorary degrees and was made a Companion of theOrder of Canada in 1967.Chisholm married Grace McLean Ryrie on 21 June 1924 and had two children, Catherine Anne and Brock Ryrie. He died on 4 February 1971 in Veterans' Hospital,
Victoria, British Columbia , after a series of strokes. He wasagnostic .External links
* [http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/chisholm.html Biography and News Stories]
* [http://collections.ic.gc.ca/heirloom_series/volume6/296-297.htm Biography]
* [http://www.who.int/archives/who50/en/directors.htm World Health Organization Biography]
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