George Ignatieff

George Pavlovich Ignatieff, CC (Russian: Георгий Па́влович Игнатьев; December 16, 1913 - August 10, 1989) was a noted Russian-Canadian diplomat. His career spanned nearly five decades in World War II and the postwar period.

Ignatieff was born in Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire, the youngest of five sons, to a distinguished Russian family. His mother was Princess Natalia Nikolayevna Meshcherskaya and his father was Count Paul Ignatieff, a close advisor to Tsar Nicholas II serving as his last Minister of Education. In 1918, the year after the Russian Revolution, Count Ignatieff was imprisoned, but his release was negotiated by sympathetic supporters. The family fled to France, and later moved to Canada. George Ignatieff was educated at St Paul's School, London, Lower Canada College, and the University of Trinity College, University of Toronto, before being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford.

With the advent of war, Ignatieff joined the Royal Artillery, where he worked in photographic intelligence. In 1940 he joined the Canadian Department of External Affairs. He became personal assistant to the Canadian High Commissioner in London, Vincent Massey, and during his London posting began a friendship with Lester Pearson, later Prime Minister of Canada. Ignatieff also served as the wartime Canadian delegate to the International Red Cross.

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