Christopher Ondaatje

Christopher Ondaatje

Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje, OC, CBE (born February 22, 1933) is a Sri Lankan-Canadian businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and Olympian. He lives in the United Kingdom.

Contents

Overview

Born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to a Burgher family of Dutch origin, Christopher went to Blundell's School in the United Kingdom. After his alcoholic father lost the family fortune, Christopher had to leave school a year from graduation. In 1956, Christopher emigrated to Canada, arriving in Toronto with virtually no money. He quickly began to rebuild the family fortune, becoming a wealthy stockbroker, going on to be one of the three founding members of Loewen Ondaatjie McCutcheon. He became a multi-millionaire in the publishing industry by founding the Pagurian Press, which he later sold to the Bronfman family.

He represented Canada as a bobsledder in the 1964 Winter Olympics.

Philanthropy

He is a significant benefactor;[1][2] among the institutions he has helped are: The National Portrait Gallery, The Royal Geographical Society, Somerset County Cricket Club, Blundell's School, The Sir Christopher Ondaatje Devon Cricket Centre at Exeter University,[3] Lakefield College School, Dalhousie University, the National Ballet School, the Royal Ontario Museum (the Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery), Massey College in the University of Toronto, Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia[4] and the Chester Playhouse.[5]

The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is named after Ondaatje,[6] as is the Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture from the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.[7]

Political donations

In 2003 he donated £2million to the UK Labour Party.[8]

Adventurer

After many years of success, in which he was considered one of Toronto's most aggressive and predatory businessmen, he left the business world in 1995. He moved to Britain and began a career as a philanthropist and adventurer. Travelling through India and Africa, he also became an author, following in the footsteps of his younger brother Michael Ondaatje, a world-renowned novelist. His books describe his travels and adventures.

His recent book Hemingway in Africa, details his thesis regarding the life and motivations of Ernest Hemingway.

Honours

Ondaatje was made a Knight Bachelor by the Queen in 2003 for his philanthropic work.[9] He is also a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Senior Fellow of Massey College. In 2011, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2003. [10] He is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society.

Publications

  • Olympic victory: The story behind the Canadian Bob-Sled Club's incredible victory at the 1964 Winter Olympic Games (1967)
  • The Prime Ministers of Canada, 1867–1967 (1968)
  • Leopard in the Afternoon — An Africa Tenting Safari (1989)
  • The Man-eater of Punanai — a Journey of Discovery to the Jungles of Old Ceylon (1992)
  • Sindh Revisited: A Journey in the Footsteps of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (1996)
  • Journey to the Source of the Nile (1999)
  • Hemingway in Africa: The Last Safari (2004)
  • Woolf in Ceylon: An Imperial Journey in the Shadow of Leonard Woolf, 1904–1911 (2005)
  • The Power of Paper: A History, a Financial Adventure and a Warning (2007)
  • The Glenthorne Cat and other amazing leopard stories (2008)
  • The Last Colonial: Curious Adventures & Stories from a Vanishing World (2011)

See also

References

External links


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