Educated at Hamilton Collegiate Institute in 1913, then entered Victoria College at the University of Toronto. He then won a scholarship to St. John's College, Oxford in 1921. He excelled in various sports while at school. When World War I broke out, he was, at first, a medical orderly at the University of Toronto Hospital and then volunteered for service with the Canadian Army Medical Corps. He spent two years in Egypt and Greece. He transferred to the Royal Flying Corps in 1917. Released after suffering a couple of accidents, he was hit by a bus during the London blackout of 1918 and was eventually discharged. Following the War he received his BA from the University of Toronto in 1919. He then spent a year working at various jobs before studying in England where he received his BA and MA in 1925. He returned to Canada that year and married. In 1927, he took the foreign service entrance exam and scored top marks. He then joined the Department of External Affairs. During the 1930s he spent time in various commissions as a favorite of the then Prime Minister Bennett. He became First Secretary of the London office of the Canadian High Commission from 1935 to 1939. From 1945 to 1946, he served as the Canadian ambassador to the United States. In 1952, he became president of the UN General Assembly. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for his role in resolving the Suez Crisis and, in 1963, was elected Prime Minister of Canada. During his tenure, he established a comprehensive pension plan and socialized medicine. He was re-elected in 1965, but retired in 1968. His works were mainly articles, but he did publish the first volume of his autobiography, Mike: The Memoirs of the Rt.Hon, Lester B. Pearson. (1972). |
