Jack Rabinovitch
{{Short description|Canadian philanthropist}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2017}}
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| name = Jack Rabinovitch
| honorific_suffix = OC, O.Ont
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1930|06|24}}
| birth_place = Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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| death_date = {{Death date and age|2017|08|06|1930|06|24}}
| death_place = Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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| alma_mater = Baron Byng High School
McGill University
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| spouse = Doris Giller ({{abbr|d.|Died}} 1993)
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| mother = Fanny Shulman
| father = Issac Rabinovitch
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Jack Rabinovitch (24 June 1930 – 6 August 2017) OC, O.Ont was a Canadian philanthropist best known for founding the Giller Prize which is named after his late wife, Doris Giller, who was a literary columnist for the Toronto Star.{{cite journal|last=Porter|first=A.|date=Fall 2017|title=Jack Rabinovitch, 1930-2017|journal=Queen's Quarterly|volume=124|issue=3|pages=326–330|id={{ProQuest|1940838311}}}}
Life and career
Rabinovitch was born and raised in Montreal to Isaac Rabinovitch and Fanny Shulman, then graduated from McGill University with a BA in English.{{Cite web|url=http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/about/biographies/|title=Biographies}}
Rabinovitch was a reporter and speechwriter who later turned to business (working for Sam Steinberg of food retailer Steinbergs) and made his fortune in food retailing and real estate. He joined real estate developer Trizec Corporation in the 1970s and was an executive who helped develop six million square feet of hotel, commercial and retail space.
He was Maclean's magazine's man of the year in 1999 and was a recipient of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario.[https://www.mcgill.ca/reporter/37/17/honorary/ Honorary doctorates, professors emeriti and teaching award winners]
Personal life
Rabinovitch and Giller moved to Toronto in 1985, where he remained until his death.
Death and legacy
Rabinovitch died on 6 August 2017, aged 87.{{Cite news|url=https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/06/world/canada/jack-rabinovitch-dead-giller-prize.html|title=Jack Rabinovitch, Founder of Canadian Literary Award, Dies at 87|newspaper=The New York Times|date=7 August 2017|last1=Austen|first1=Ian}}[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/jack-rabinovitch-founder-of-giller-prize-dead-at-87/article35890607/ "Jack Rabinovitch, founder of Giller Prize, dead at 87"]. The Globe and Mail, August 6, 2017. He was laid to rest at Beth Tzedec Memorial Park.
After his death, the Toronto Public Library opened the Jack Rabinovitch Reading Room inside the Toronto Reference Library in downtown Toronto in 2019.{{cite web|url=https://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/news_releases/2018/10/presenting-the-jack-rabinovitch-reading-room-at-the-toronto-reference-library.html|title=Presenting the Jack Rabinovitch Reading Room at the Toronto Reference Library|date=30 October 2018|website=Toronto Public Library|access-date=4 November 2022}} Rabinovitch's book collection and his other memorabilia are on display there, and events leading to the Giller Prize are being held here.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/books/watch-the-2022-scotiabank-giller-prize-shortlist-reveal-on-sept-27-at-11-a-m-et-1.6596048|title=Watch the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize shortlist reveal on Sept. 27 at 11 a.m. ET|date=26 September 2022|website=CBC|access-date=4 November 2022}}
References
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Category:Businesspeople from Montreal
Category:Officers of the Order of Canada
Category:Members of the Order of Ontario
Category:Canadian philanthropists
Category:Businesspeople from Toronto
Category:McGill University alumni
Category:20th-century Canadian philanthropists
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