Vincent Massey
Charles Vincent Massey, PC, CC, CH ( born February 20, 1887 in Toronto, † December 30, 1967 in London, United Kingdom) was a Canadian diplomat and politician. After nearly two decades working as ambassador from 1952 to 1959 he was the 18th Governor General of Canada and the first Canadian, who has held this office.
Biography
Father Chester D. Massey was the owner of Massey -Harris, the predecessor of the international tractor manufacturer Massey Ferguson. The family was among the wealthiest in Toronto and supported numerous charitable organizations. Massey's younger brother was the Canadian actor Raymond Massey, which he is the uncle of the British actor Anna Massey and Daniel Massey.
Massey received his education at St. Andrew 's College in Aurora. He then studied history at the University of Toronto and at Balliol College in Oxford continued. In 1914 he was appointed Dean of the Victoria College, University of Toronto. From 1921 to 1925 he was chairman of the family company Massey- Harris. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, whom he had met during his studies in Toronto, he was appointed in September 1925 Minister without Portfolio. Massey took a seat in the House of Commons, but was defeated a month later at the general election in 1925 and was forced to resign.
1926 appointed him king for the first Ambassador of Canada with full diplomatic status, and he in the following year his work in Washington, DC recorded. In 1930 he resigned to accept the appointment as High Commissioner to London. The Liberal government suffered but at the general election defeat in 1930 and the new prime minister Richard Bedford Bennett revoked the appointment. When the Liberals were king from 1935 back in power, but Massey was able to take this office, and practiced this out until 1946.
About the Family Foundation, the Massey Foundation was Vincent Massey socially engaged, especially in education. 1949 he was appointed Chairman of the Commission for national development of art, literature and science. The Commission's objective was to preserve the independence of Canadian culture on the United States. In 1951, she published the Massey Report, which led to the founding of the Canadian National Library and the Canada Council for the Arts ( Arts Council ).
On February 1, 1952 Massey was appointed Governor General of Canada and sworn in four weeks later. He was the first Canadian in this office and represented the monarch against the government. Massey traveled the country extensively and strove to create a distinct Canadian identity, but without giving up the ties to the British homeland. He also continued to perform as a patron of art and science. On September 15, 1959, he handed the office to Georges Vanier.
Massey continued his philanthropic work. In 1963 he opened the Massey College, University of Toronto, which was financed with money from the Massey Foundation. During his tenure, he had suggested an independent system of Great Britain Award for Canadians. Massey was one of the first to be included in the new Order of Canada in 1967. In the same year he died during a visit to London.