John Wilson (blind activist)
{{Short description|British public health advocate}}
{{Other people|John Wilson}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
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Sir John Foster Wilson CBE (20 January 1919 – 25 November 1999) was a British public health advocate, best known for working to prevent blindness in developing countries in Africa and South and South East Asia.
Early life and background
He was born in Nottinghamshire,Birth registered in Basford Registration District in the first quarter of 1919. the son of the Reverend George Henry Wilson, a Methodist minister. Blinded in a laboratory accident at school at Scarborough High School for Boys in 1931,The New Beacon (vol. 84); The Times (London) (Tuesday, 30 November 1999), p. 27. he went on to be educated at Worcester College for the Blind (now New College Worcester), and obtain a scholarship to study law at St Catherine's College, Oxford. before becoming Assistant Secretary at the Royal National Institute for the Blind in 1941.Who's Who, 1980, p. 2768.{{cite web|title=Meet our founder|url=http://www.sightsavers.org/about_us/history/14369.html|publisher=Sightsavers International|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603142944/http://sightsavers.org/about_us/history/14369.html|archivedate=2012-06-03}}
Career
He served as a member of the Colonial Office delegation investigating blindness in Africa during 1946–1947.Who's Who, 1980, loc. cit.
Wilson was involved in founding several organisations, most notably the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind (now known as Sightsavers International) - of which he became the first director in 1950 - but also Disability Awareness in Action, the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and IMPACT.
At his instigation, the World Health Organization established the first International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, of which he served as president from 1974 until his retirement in 1982.
He died in Brighton in 1999.
Personal life
Wilson was married in 1944 to Chloe Jean McDermid ("Jean").Marriage registered in Uxbridge Registration District in the third quarter of 1944. They had two daughters, Jane and Claire.{{cite news|title=J.F. Wilson, 80, Whose Work Saved Millions From Blindness|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/06/world/jf-wilson-80-whose-work-saved-millions-from-blindness.html|work=The New York Times|date=6 December 1999 |last1=Martin |first1=Douglas }}
His widow, Lady Jean Wilson, continues the work of Sightsavers International. She was appointed an OBE for her charity work in 1981.{{cite web|title=Meet Lady Jean Wilson|url=http://www.sightsavers.org/about_us/history/18914.html|publisher=Sightsavers International|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130216130541/http://www.sightsavers.org/about_us/history/18914.html|archivedate=2013-02-16}}
Legacy
The Sir John Wilson School, Dhaka, was established in his honour in Bangladesh, in 1995.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sjwschool.org/|title=Welcome to Sir John Wilson School|website=www.sjwschool.org|language=en-gb|access-date=2017-07-17}}
Published works
- Ghana's Handicapped Citizens (1961)
- Travelling Blind (1963)
- World Blindness and Its Prevention (1980)
Awards and honours
- Helen Keller International Award (1970)
- World Humanity Award (1978)
- Royal Society of Medicine's Richard T. Hewitt Award (1991)
- Albert Schweitzer International Prize (1993).
- OBE (1955)
- CBE (1965)
- Knighthood (1975)
- Albert Lasker Public Service Award (1979)[http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/1979public.htm Lasker Foundation] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100716174938/http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/1979public.htm |date=2010-07-16 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.sightsavers.org/ Sightsavers website]
- [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-sir-john-wilson-1126863.html The Independent: Obituary]
- IMPACT [http://www.impact.org.uk]
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Category:People from Nottingham
Category:People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire
Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford
Category:British non-fiction writers
Category:British disability rights activists
Category:People educated at Scarborough High School for Boys
Category:20th-century British non-fiction writers