George Brock Chisholm was one of those strong-willed, self-confident, resolute individuals whose determination can change the course of history. Many would argue that he did just that, chiefly because of the key role he played in the establishment of the World Health Organization, a United Nations agency whose mandate is to monitor health problems on a global basis and to develop strategies to protect populations affected or at risk.

Born of an old Canadian family, Brock Chisholm was named after Sir Isaac Brock, under whom his great-grandfather had fought against the Americans at Queenston Heights during the War of 1812. His great-grandfather had founded the town of Oakville on the shores of Lake Ontario. That was where Brock grew up and where he first practised medicine.

World War I was hugely influential in shaping his life. Enlisting as a private at 19, Brock was twice decorated, receiving the Military Cross and bar, and wounded once. He rose rapidly through the ranks, was commissioned in the field, and ended the war as a captain. He maintained a keen interest in military affairs after the war, rising to senior ranks in the militia.
 

Named after Sir Isaac Brock, the hero of Upper Canada during the War of 1812, Dr. Brock Chisholm was one of a small group of prominent medical professionals selected to draw up the World Health Organization's operational regulations. After all his success in ensuring international adoption of the WHO document, he became virtually the unanimous choice to be its first director general. [Photo, courtesy NAC/C-59705]

Meanwhile, Chisholm studied medicine at the University of Toronto and achieved his M.D. in 1924. During the next decade, he found time not only to practise medicine but also to pursue studies in psychiatry at Yale University and in London, England. He was thus able, in 1934, to set up practice in Toronto as the city's first psychoanalyst. “He'd come home from the office muttering that everyone he’d seen that day had broken down and cried,” recalled his wife, “then march straight into the nursery where he kept the harmonium and blast out with ‘Onward Christian Soldiers.’” This, despite the fact that he was a confirmed agnostic.

Once again, a world war reshaped Chisholm's life. In 1940, he was named head of personnel training for the armed forces and, in 1942, he became director general of army medical services, the first psychiatrist to head this branch in any army in the world. Then, in 1944, he became federal deputy minister of health, a position he held until 1946.

In the latter capacity he took great interest in the embryonic World Health Organization (WHO) and was one of 16 international experts invited to draft its constitution. He was extremely influential in expanding the goals of the fledgling organization: the WHO constitution was hailed as revolutionary because it defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity,” because it declared such a state of health to be one of the fundamental rights of every human being, and because it recognized that “the health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security.”

Meanwhile, at home, deputy minister Chisholm managed to add to his already considerable reputation for being outspoken by declaring publicly that children should not be encouraged to believe in Santa Claus, except as a figure of myth or fable. The public outcry was tremendous, with repeated calls for his resignation which he flatly refused to acknowledge. The government was spared any serious embarrassment at this critical moment in 1946, since Brock Chisholm was appointed executive secretary of the WHO and as the only serious contender for the position was elected, in 1948, as director general, winning by a 46-2 vote.

Chisholm moved his family to Geneva and spent seven years circling the globe to call attention to impending problems and work out practical strategies for action against major threats.

Under his leadership during its early years, the WHO quashed a cholera epidemic in Egypt and virtually wiped out malaria in Greece and Sardinia where it had devastated large populations. He helped organize a daily shortwave epidemic-warning service to enable ships at sea and port quarantine officials to know instantly where an epidemic was breaking out anywhere in the world. During his tenure, the WHO sent x-ray crews to China to combat tuberculosis, shipped iron lungs to India, and tackled the problem of VD control.

Brock Chisholm was a bold leader with sufficient candour to speak his mind on issues about which he felt strongly. Although he had risen to the rank of major-general in the Canadian army, he made an eloquent plea following World War II for the abolition of war and announced that humankind’s health could never be assured until such a quantum leap occurred. As the late Canadian journalist, Bruce Hutchison, wrote, it was startling to find a general so eager to abolish war.

It was, however, typical of Chisholm, who always remained something of a heretic, to enjoy twisting the tail of the powers that be. He was, like so many strong personalities, a study in contradictions – an agnostic who loved to play “Onward Christian Soldiers” and, deep down, probably believed in its words. Brock Chisholm was a remarkable Canadian with remarkable talents.

Gregory Wirick