Chisholm, George Brock

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: See full biography at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brock_Chisholm
Wiki Biography:
- George Brock Chisholm CC CBE MC ED (18 May 1896 – 4 February 1971) was a Canadian psychiatrist, medical practitioner, World War I veteran, and the first director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). He was the 13th Canadian Surgeon General and the recipient of numerous accolades, including Order of Canada, Order of the British Empire, Military Cross, and the military Efficiency Decoration.
- Brock Chisholm was born on 18 May 1896, in Oakville, Ontario, to a family with deep ties to the region. Under Sir Isaac Brock, his great-grandfather fought against the Americans during the War of 1812. His great grandfather’s brother, William, was Oakville’s founder. His father was Frank Chisholm, who ran a coal yard.
- In 1946, Chisholm became executive secretary of the Interim Commission of the World Health Organization (WHO), based in Geneva, Switzerland. The WHO succeeded the League of Nations’s Health Organization. Chishom was one of 16 international experts consulted in drafting the agency’s first constitution. He recommended the WHO’s name, with emphasis on “world.” He defined health for the WHO as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” The WHO charter also established that health is a fundamental human right and that “the health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security.”
- The WHO became a permanent UN fixture in April 1948, and Chisholm became the agency’s first Director General on a 46–2 vote. Chisholm was now in the unique position of being able to bring his views on the importance of international mental and physical health to the world. Refusing re-election, he occupied the post until 1953, during which time the WHO dealt successfully with a cholera epidemic in Egypt, malaria outbreaks in Greece and Sardinia, and introduced shortwave epidemic-warning services for ships at sea
- Chisholm was a controversial public speaker who nevertheless spoke with great conviction, and drew much criticism from the Canadian public for comments in the mid-1940s that children should not be encouraged to believe in Santa Claus, the Bible or anything he regarded as supernaturalism. Calls for his resignation as Deputy Minister of Health were quelled by his appointment as Executive Secretary of the WHO, but his public perception as “Canada’s most famously articulate angry man” lingered.
Second Great Grandson to United Empire Loyalist listed in Loyalist Directory: https://uelac.ca/loyalist-directory/detail/?wpda_search_column_id=1446
Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/94620321/george-brock-chisholm