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Canadian historian (1940–2022) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Irving Martin Abella CM OOnt FRSC (July 2, 1940 – July 3, 2022) was a Canadian historian who served as a professor at York University from 1968 to 2013. He specialized in the history of the Jews in Canada and the Canadian labour movement.
Irving Abella | |
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Born | Irving Martin Abella July 2, 1940 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Died | July 3, 2022 82) | (aged
Title | President of the Canadian Jewish Congress (1992–1995) |
Spouse | |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | University College, Toronto |
Thesis | The Struggle for Industrial Unionism in Canada (1969) |
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Academic work | |
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Institutions | York University |
Notable works | None Is Too Many (1983) |
Abella was born in Toronto on July 2, 1940.[2][3] His parents were Esther (Shiff) and Louis Abella.[3][4] He studied at the University of Toronto, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in 1963 and a Master of Arts the following year. He commenced his doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, before returning to the University of Toronto and being awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in 1969.[2] He wrote his thesis on Canadian labour history.[3]
Abella first taught at York University in 1968,[2] specializing in labour and Jewish history.[3][5] He continued teaching at that institution until 2013. During the early 1970s, he started the first university course in Canadian Jewish studies at Glendon College, which he considered his greatest achievement.[3] He served as president of the Canadian Jewish Congress from 1992 to 1995. He was also chair of Vision TV, a religious broadcaster.[2][6] He was president of the Canadian Historical Association for the year 1999-2000.[7]
Abella's books include Coat of Many Colours: Two Centuries of Jewish Life in Canada (1990) and None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933–1948 (1982).[2] He stated that the latter – which detailed the Canadian government's immigration policy during the 1930s that led it to accept only 5,000 Jewish refugees during World War II – was not intended to be more than an academic text.[8] However, it ultimately impacted the immigration policy of the government at the time. After Ron Atkey, the minister of immigration, read a draft copy of the manuscript, the Canadian government welcomed 50,000 Vietnamese boat people by the end of 1980 (up from the original goal of 8,000 refugees per year).[3][8]
Abella married Rosalie Silberman Abella in 1968.[2] They met while studying at the University of Toronto together, and remained married until his death.[3] She was later appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in August 2004. Together, they have two children, Jacob and Zachary.[3][8]
Abella died on July 3, 2022, one day after his 82nd birthday. He suffered from an unspecified long illness prior to his death.[3][8][9]
Abella was a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.[2][8] He was conferred the National Jewish Book Award in 1983 under the Holocaust category for None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe, 1933–1948.[8][10] He was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in October 1993 and invested four months later in February of the following year.[11] He was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).[12][13] Abella later received the Order of Ontario in 2014 "for his contribution to documenting the story of Jewish Canadians, and his commitment to the principles of social justice and tolerance."[14][15]
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