Vincent Massey

Vincent Massey (1887-1967), governor-general of Canada (1952-59), the first native-born Canadian to hold that office. Born in Toronto, and educated at the University of Toronto and the University of Oxford, he taught modern history for some years before joining the Dominion cabinet in 1925. He later served as Canadian minister to the U.S. (1926-30) and high commissioner for Canada in Britain (1935-46). The “Massey Report” (1951) contained his evaluation of the status of Canadian arts and culture and his recommendations for government subsidies to the arts, which have since become an integral part of Canadian national policy.