bout de papier, Vol. 23, No. 3 (2008), p. 34
Georges-Henri Blouin passed away peacefully in Ottawa on December 27, 2007. A memorial service was held in Ottawa on January 3, attended by a large gathering of colleagues and friends who came to pay their respects to a consummate diplomat and a caring person. Predeceased by his wife Denise, Georges was the father of Pierre, Micheline and Michael Joseph, grandfather of Katherine (Gravley), Andrew Glendinning, and Nitzan, Gil, Ron and Dean Blouin and great-grandfather to Sean and Liam Gravley.
Georges was born in Montreal on June 4, 1921. He received a BA from Collège Saint-Marie, Montreal and an LLB from the University of Montreal in 1948. He worked in the Department of National Revenue before joining the Department of External Affairs in 1949. He served in the office of the Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs and in several divisions at headquarters and abroad in New Delhi, San Francisco, Athens and Brussels, thus gaining broad experience in the work of the Department.
In 1965, Georges gained his first head of mission appointment when he was named Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Cameroon, with concurrent accreditation to Chad, Gabon and the Central African Republic. He then served as Minister at the Embassy in Washington, from 1967 to 1970 and, on his return to Ottawa, he was named Special Advisor to the Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs and Director General of Personnel.
Georges was Ambassador to Spain with concurrent accreditation to Morocco from 1973 until his appointment in 1977 as Assistant Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs. He was Ambassador to the Netherlands from 1979 until his appointment in 1983 as Chief of Protocol. He left this post in 1985 to become Special Advisor in the Department’s Bureau of European Affairs.
From March until June 1986, when he retired from the Department of External Affairs, Georges was seconded to Petro- Canada International Assistance Corporation as Senior Policy Advisor to the President. He was appointed Advisor to the Canadian Secretary to the Queen during the visit to Canada of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in October 1987.
In retirement, Georges served as a member of the Senior Editorial Board of bout de papier magazine from 1991, and in 1996 was a member of the Judges’ Panel for the Canadian Foreign Service Officer Awards.
An able and gracious diplomat, he served his country and his wide circle of colleagues and friends well.
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Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 23, No. 3 (2008), p. 34. Read the rest of this issue →
