Brock Chisholm

Who was Brock Chisholm?

George Brock Chisholm, CC, MC & Bar was a Canadian First World War veteran, medical practitioner, and the first Director-General of the World Health Organization. He was a strong advocate of religious tolerance and often commented that man's worst enemy was not disease, which he felt was curable as long as men worked together, but man himself.

Chisholm was born in Oakville, Ontario, to a family with deep ties to the region. Under Sir Isaac Brock, after whom Chisholm was named, his great-grandfather fought against the Americans during the War of 1812. His great-grandfather's brother was also Oakville's founder.

As an 18-year-old at the start of the First World War, Chisholm joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force, serving in the 15th Battalion, CEF as a cook, sniper, machine gunner and scout. His leadership and heroism were twice rewarded: with a Military Cross for his efforts in a battle outside of Lens, France; and the Bar. He rose to the rank of captain, was injured once and returned home in 1917.

After the war, Chisholm pursued his lifelong passion of medicine, earning his M.D. from the University of Toronto by 1924 before interning in England, where he specialized in psychiatry. After six years in general practice in his native Oakville, he attended Yale University where he specialized in the mental health of children. During this time, Chisholm developed his strong view that children should be raised in an "as intellectually free environment" as possible, independent of the prejudices and biases – political, moral and religious – of their parents.