Irving Abella

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Irving Martin Abella Template:Post-nominals (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.

Early lifeEdit

Abella was born in Toronto on July 2, 1940.<ref name=Historica>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref name=Freeman>Template:Cite news</ref> His parents were Esther (Shiff) and Louis Abella.<ref name=Freeman/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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.<ref name=Historica/> He wrote his thesis on Canadian labour history.<ref name=Freeman/>

CareerEdit

Abella first taught at York University in 1968,<ref name=Historica/> specializing in labour and Jewish history.<ref name=Freeman/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name=Freeman/> He served as president of the Canadian Jewish Congress from 1992 to 1995. He was also chair of Vision TV, a religious broadcaster.<ref name=Historica/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was president of the Canadian Historical Association for the year 1999-2000.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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).<ref name=Historica/> 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.<ref name="CP obit">Template:Cite news</ref> 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).<ref name=Freeman/><ref name="CP obit"/>

Personal life and deathEdit

Abella married Rosalie Silberman Abella in 1968.<ref name=Historica/> They met while studying at the University of Toronto together, and remained married until his death.<ref name=Freeman/> She was later appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in August 2004. Together, they have two children, Jacob and Zachary.<ref name=Freeman/><ref name="CP obit"/>

Abella died on July 3, 2022, one day after his 82nd birthday. He suffered from an unspecified long illness prior to his death.<ref name=Freeman/><ref name="CP obit"/><ref name="obit">Template:Cite news</ref>

Awards and honoursEdit

Abella was a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.<ref name=Historica/><ref name="CP obit"/> 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.<ref name="CP obit"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was appointed a member of the Order of Canada in October 1993 and invested four months later in February of the following year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He was the recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

PublicationsEdit

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

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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