George Brock Chisholm (1896-1971)

Chisholm was born in Oakville, Ontario, on the 18th of May 1896.
Canadian World War I veteran, medical practitioner and the first Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). 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.
As an 18-year-old at the start of World War I, Chisholm joined the Canadian Army's 15th battalion, serving 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 as high in rank as captain, was injured once and returned home in 1917 as a Canadian war hero.
After the war, Chishold pursued his lifelong passion of medicine, then 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.
At the outbreak of World War II, Chisholm rapidly rose in stature within the Canadian military and government. He joined the war effort as a psychologist dealing with psychological aspects of soldier training before rising to the rank of Director General of the Medical Services, the highest position within the medical ranks of the Canadian Army.
Chisholm was a controversial public speaker who nevertheless had great conviction, and drew much cynicism within the Canadian public for comments in the mid-1940s that children should not be encouraged to believe in Santa Claus.
He died on February 4, 1971 in Veterans' Hospital, Victoria, Ontario after a plane crash. He was agnostic.