Georges Vanier

Who was Georges Vanier?

Major-General Georges-Philéas Vanier PC DSO MC CD was a Canadian soldier and diplomat who served as Governor General of Canada, the 19th since Canadian Confederation.

Vanier was born and educated in Quebec and, after earning a university degree in law, served in the Canadian army during the First World War; on the European battlefields he lost a limb, but was commended for his actions with a number of decorations from the King. Subsequently, Vanier returned to Canada and remained in the military until the early 1930s, when he was posted to diplomatic missions in Europe. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Vanier once again became active in the military, commanding troops on the home front, until the cessation of hostilities in 1945, whereupon he returned to diplomatic circles. He was in 1959 appointed as governor general by Queen Elizabeth II, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada John Diefenbaker, to replace Vincent Massey as viceroy, and he occupied the post until his death in 1967.