Geoffrey Pearson
{{Short description|Canadian diplomat}}
{{For|the Bishop of Lancaster|Geoff Pearson}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|OC|size=100%}}
|name = Geoffrey Pearson
|image =Geoffrey Pearson.png
|image_size =
|caption =Pearson in 2001
|order = 4th Canadian Ambassador to the Soviet Union
|primeminister = Pierre Trudeau
|term_start = 1980
|term_end = 1983
|predecessor = Robert Arthur Douglas Ford
|successor = Vernon George Turner
|order1 = Canadian Ambassador to Mongolia
|primeminister1 =Pierre Trudeau
|term_start1 = 1980
|term_end1 = 1981
|predecessor1 = Robert Arthur Douglas Ford
|successor1 =
|birth_name = Geoffrey Arthur Holland Pearson
|birth_date ={{birth date|1927|12|24|mf=y}}
|birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
|death_date = {{death date and age|2008|03|18|1927|12|24}}
|death_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
|spouse = {{marriage|[[Landon Pearson|Lucy
Landon Carter
Mackenzie]]|1951}}
|children = 5, including Patricia Pearson
|parents = Lester B. Pearson
Maryon Moody
|relations =
|party =
|profession = {{hlist|Diplomat|author}}
|religion =
|signature =
|alma_mater = University of Toronto
University of Oxford
}}
Geoffrey Arthur Holland Pearson {{post-nominals|country=CAN|OC}} (December 24, 1927 – March 18, 2008) was a Canadian diplomat and author. He was the son of former Prime Minister of Canada Lester B. Pearson and Maryon Pearson.
Biography
Born in Toronto, Pearson was educated at Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario, the University of Toronto, and the University of Oxford.{{Cite web|date=2008-04-01|title=Remembering Geoffrey Pearson, OC (1925 - 2008) - WUSC (World University Service of Canada)|url=https://wusc.ca/in-memoriam/remembering-geoffrey-pearson-oc-1925-2008/|access-date=2022-02-06|website=wusc.ca|language=en-US}}
Pearson joined the Department of External Affairs (now called Global Affairs Canada) in 1952, being the second of three members of his family to serve in Canada's diplomatic service. His father was Secretary of State for External Affairs and his son, Michael, would be a senior civil servant.{{cite news|last=Campion-Smith|first=Bruce|date=March 20, 2008|title=Geoffrey Pearson, 80: PM's son, diplomat|newspaper=Toronto Star|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/obituaries/2008/03/20/geoffrey_pearson_80_pms_son_diplomat.html|accessdate=October 19, 2014}}
He held diplomatic appointments at the Canadian embassies in Paris and Mexico City, and at the High Commission in New Delhi. From 1980 to 1983, he served as Canada's ambassador to the Soviet Union.{{Cite web|last=Nov 23|first=James Munson Published on|last2=2017 4:19pm|title=The Pearson family|url=https://ipolitics.ca/article/the-pearson-family/|access-date=2022-02-06|website=iPolitics|language=en-US}} He was also Ambassador to Mongolia from 1980 to 1981.{{cite web|url=http://www.international.gc.ca/message.aspx?&mst=404|title=Global Affairs Canada|first1=Global Affairs|last1=Canada|first2=Affaires mondiales|last2=Canada|date=26 June 2013|publisher=|accessdate=5 March 2017}}
In late 1983, Pearson was appointed as a special representative for arms control to then-Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and in 1984 he was seconded to the Canadian Institute of International Affairs. In January 1985, he was appointed as the first executive director of the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security, where he served for six years. In 1996, his book Seize the Day was published, chronicling his father's diplomatic legacy. Pearson was a past president of the United Nations Association in Canada. In 2000, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Pearson died in Ottawa, Ontario, on March 18, 2008. He was survived by his wife, Senator Landon Pearson (served 1994–2005), and their five children—Patricia, Michael (former diplomat and official with Fisheries and Oceans Canada), Hilary, Anne, and Katherine.{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/geoffrey-pearson-80/article1053290/ |title=Geoffrey Pearson, 80 |newspaper=The Globe and Mail |date=March 18, 2008 |first=Jill |last=Mahoney |accessdate=October 19, 2014 }}
Published works
- {{Cite book|title=Seize the Day: Lester B. Pearson and Crisis Diplomacy |url=https://archive.org/details/seizedaylesterbp0000pear |url-access=registration |first=Geoffrey A.H. |last=Pearson |publisher=Carleton University Press |date=1993 |isbn=978-0886292171 }}
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- Obituary: Geoffrey Pearson 1927-2008 Diplomat elevated Canada's UN role, Toronto Star, March 20, 2008 pp A24
- [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080318.wpearson19/BNStory/National/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20080318.wpearson19 Obituary Geoffrey Pearson, 80.]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100706234640/http://www.edmonton.unac.org/html/press_release___geoffrey_pears.html GEOFFREY PEARSON TO VISIT EDMONTON For immediate release Saturday, October 20, 2001]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, Geoffrey}}
Category:Canadian people of Anglo-Irish descent
Category:Children of prime ministers of Canada
Category:Officers of the Order of Canada
Category:University of Toronto alumni
Category:Ambassadors of Canada to the Soviet Union
Category:Ambassadors of Canada to Mongolia
Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford
Category:Canadian male biographers
Category:20th-century Canadian male writers