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
Born
Irving Martin Abella

(1940-07-02)July 2, 1940
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
DiedJuly 3, 2022(2022-07-03) (aged 82)
TitlePresident of the Canadian Jewish Congress (1992–1995)
Spouse
(m. 1968)
Academic background
Alma materUniversity College, Toronto
ThesisThe Struggle for Industrial Unionism in Canada (1969)
Doctoral advisor
Academic work
Discipline
Sub-discipline
InstitutionsYork University
Notable worksNone Is Too Many (1983)

Early life

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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]

Career

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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]

Personal life and death

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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]

Awards and honours

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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]

Publications

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  • Nationalism, Communism and Canadian Labour (1973) ISBN 9780802002334
  • On Strike: Six Key Labour Struggles in Canada 1919–1949 (1974) ISBN 9780888620576
  • The Canadian Worker in the Twentieth Century (co-editor, 1978) ISBN 9780195402506
  • None Is Too Many: Canada and the Jews of Europe 1933–1948 (with Harold Troper, 1982) ISBN 9780919630314
  • A Coat of Many Colours: Two Centuries of Jewish Life in Canada (1990) ISBN 9780886192518

See also

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References

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  1. ^ McNaught, Kenneth (1999). Conscience and History: A Memoir. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-8020-4425-9. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Murray, Joan (January 18, 2012). "David Lloyd Blackwood". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Freeman, Alan (July 4, 2022). "Historian Irving Abella dies after long illness". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  4. ^ Schneiderman, Harry; Carmin, Itzhak J. (1987). Who's who in World Jewry. ISBN 9780961827205.
  5. ^ "iabella | Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies". profiles.laps.yorku.ca. May 24, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  6. ^ "Alumni of Influence > Irving Abella, BA 1963 UC - 2012 Award Recipient". University College, University of Toronto.
  7. ^ "CHA Presidents and Presidential Addresses". CHA Canadian Historical Association. Retrieved May 30, 2023. Presidential address 2000: Irving Abella, Jews, Human Rights, and the Making of Canada. New Séries, Vol. 11, 3-15.
  8. ^ a b c d e f "Irving Abella, historian who wrote on Canada's refusal of Jewish refugees, dead at 82". CBC News. The Canadian Press. July 4, 2022. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  9. ^ Csillag, Ron (July 3, 2022). "Obituary: Irving Abella, 82, was a Canadian historian who revealed why Canada kept Jews out during the Holocaust". Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  10. ^ "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  11. ^ "Dr. Irving Martin Abella". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  12. ^ "Mr. Irving Martin Abella". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  13. ^ "Irving Martin Abella". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved July 6, 2022.
  14. ^ "New Appointees to the Order of Ontario". January 23, 2014.
  15. ^ "Order of Ontario members". Government of Ontario. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
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Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by President of the Canadian Jewish Congress
1992–1995
Succeeded by
Professional and academic associations
Preceded by President of the
Canadian Historical Association

1999–2000
Succeeded by