Search for "south asian canadians"

Onkar Prasad Dwivedi, CM, political scientist, environmentalist (born 20 January 1937 near Bindki in Uttar Pradesh province, India; died 29 January 2013 in Guelph, ON). Dwivedi was known for his research in public administration and the environment. He contributed widely to both his academic field as well as his community, both in Guelph and abroad.

Joao Alvares Fagundes, explorer (fl 1521). In 1520 he explored the coast south and west of Cape Race, Nfld, and perhaps entered the St Lawrence River. He may have sighted Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Cape Breton Island and Sable Island.

Gaspar Corte-Real, explorer (b 1450?; d 1501). A native of the Azores, he initiated Portuguese claims in the North Atlantic. It is thought that he reached Greenland and worked his way south to Newfoundland in 1500, and that he

Andrew Hill Clark, historical geographer (b at Fairford, Man 29 Apr 1911; d at Madison, Wisc 21 May 1975). Son of a Baptist medical missionary, Clark was educated at McMaster and University of Toronto where he studied with geographer Griffith Taylor and economic historian Harold Innis.

Robert Stewart, director, writer, photographer, conservationist (born 28 December 1979 in Toronto, ON; died 31 January 2017 near Islamorada, Florida). Rob Stewart was an ecologically-minded non-fiction filmmaker, conservationist and activist who was fascinated since childhood by underwater life and photography. His environmental documentaries Sharkwater (2006) and Revolution (2012) set box office records in Canada and won numerous awards worldwide. Stewart was reported missing on 31 January 2017 while diving in the Florida Keys and was found dead after a three day search. The Canadian Screen Award for Best Science or Nature Documentary Program or Series was renamed in his honour.

Leif Eriksson (Old Norse Leifr Eiríksson, a.k.a. Leifr hinn heppni, Leif the Lucky), explorer, chieftain (born in the 970s CE in Iceland; died between 1018 and 1025 in Greenland). Leif Eriksson was the first European to explore the east coast of North America, including areas that are now part of Arctic and Atlantic Canada. Upon the death of his father, Erik the Red, Leif became paramount chieftain of the Norse colony in Greenland. The two main sources on him are The Saga of the Greenlanders and The Saga of Erik the Red. There are also references to him in The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason and The Saga of St. Olaf.

Bjarni Herjolfsson, Norse explorer (dates of birth and death unknown; lived in the 10th century). Herjolfsson was likely the first European to sight the east coast of North America. While sailing from Iceland to Greenland in 986 CE, Herjolfsson sighted lands that were later determined to be Baffin Island, Labrador and Newfoundland. Although Herjolfsson never set foot in North America, Leif Ericsson later retraced his voyage, establishing a settlement at what he called Vinland.

Samuel de Champlain, cartographer, explorer, colonial administrator, author (born circa 1567 in Brouage, France; died 25 December 1635 in Quebec City). Known as the “Father of New France,” Samuel de Champlain played a major role in establishing New France from 1603 to 1635. He is also credited with founding Quebec City in 1608. He explored the Atlantic coastline (in Acadia), the Canadian interior and the Great Lakes region. He also helped found French colonies in Acadia and at Trois-Rivières, and he established friendly relations and alliances with many First Nations, including the Montagnais, the Huron, the Odawa and the Nipissing. For many years, he was the chief person responsible for administrating the colony of New France. Champlain published four books as well as several maps of North America. His works are the only written account of New France at the beginning of the 17th century.

Sir William Edward Parry, naval officer, Arctic explorer (born 19 December 1790 in Bath, England; died 8 or 9 July 1855 in Bad Ems, present-day Germany).

Paul Franklin Watson, environmental activist, author, reality TV star (born 2 December 1950 in Toronto, ON). Paul Watson is the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) and a pioneering, polarizing figure in the conservation movement.

Sir Robert John Le Mesurier McClure, explorer, adventurer (born 28 Jan 1807 in Wexford, Ireland; died 17 Oct 1873 in London, England).

André Siegfried, geographer, political commentator (born 21 April 1875 in Le Havre, France; died 28 March 1959 in Paris, France). Preeminent French geographer of his generation, Siegfried is the author of several books about Canada and North America.

John (“Jack”) Thomas Miner, also known as “Wild Goose Jack,” conservationist, lecturer (born 10 April 1865 in Dover Center, Ohio; died 3 November 1944 in Kingsville, ON). In 1904, Jack Miner created one of North America’s first bird sanctuaries. He was also one of the earliest to attach bands to the legs of migratory birds for the scientific study of their habits. Over the course of his lifetime he banded over 90,000 ducks and Canada geese, often inscribing bits of biblical scripture on each band. His records of these birds and their migratory patterns helped persuade the Canadian government to ratify the Migratory Birds Convention Act in 1917.

Mary Schäffer Warren (née Mary Townsend Sharpless), naturalist, writer, photographer, surveyor (born 4 October 1861 in West Chester, Pennsylvania; died 23 January 1939 in Banff, AB). Schäffer Warren is best known for being the first non-Indigenous person to explore Maligne Lake in the Canadian Rockies. She was one of the first non-Indigenous women to travel through much of what is now Banff and Jasper national parks. Although she had no experience as a surveyor, the Geological Survey of Canada asked her to survey Maligne Lake in 1911. As a result, Schäffer Warren is responsible for naming several of the geographic features surrounding the lake (see also Ten Mountains in Canada Named After Women). Through writing and lantern-slide presentations of her hand-painted photographs, she encouraged tourism to the Rockies.

Louis Jolliet, explorer, cartographer, king’s hydrographer, fur trader, seigneur, organist, teacher (baptized 21 September 1645 in Québec City; died between 4 May and 18 Oct 1700 likely near Île d'Anticosti).

Ferdinand Alphonse Fortunat Larose, agronomist (born 1 April 1888 in Sarsfield, Ontario; died 29 January 1955 in Montreal, Quebec). Throughout his career, Ferdinand Larose focused on agriculture in the United Counties of Prescott and Russel in Eastern Ontario. He is best known for having created the vast Larose Forest in a part of the counties which had become arid after intensive deforestation in the 19th century. The agronomist was also a leader for Franco-Ontarian cultivators. He chaired several cultivator associations and promoted agricultural training for Franco-Ontarians.