1. Michael Bliss was an Officer of the Order of Canada.
16 Facts About Michael Bliss
1. 2.
Michael Bliss was born on January 18,1941, in Leamington, Ontario, Bliss was raised in nearby Kingsville, Ontario.
3.
Michael Bliss's father, Quartus Bliss, was a Kingsville-based physician who encouraged Michael to enter the medical field.
4.
Michael Bliss entered the University of Toronto in 1958, and received his Bachelor of Arts, Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees there.
5.
Michael Bliss was appointed to the faculty in 1968 and by the time of his retirement in 2006 had attained the elite rank of University Professor.
6.
Michael Bliss's doctoral dissertation, which was supervised by Ramsay Cook, was a social history of Canadian business, an analysis of the "thoughts and dreams" of businessmen in Canada during the National Policy years.
7.
Michael Bliss has published biographies of two Canadians, the discoverer of insulin Sir Frederick Banting and the famous physician Sir William Osler.
8.
Michael Bliss has been a frequent commentator on Canadian politics for newspapers, magazines, and television, and has lectured widely in North America and Europe.
9.
Michael Bliss's books have won various prizes, including the Welch Medal of the American Association for the History of Medicine, the Tyrrell Medal of the Royal Society of Canada, three Jason Hannah Medals of the Royal Society of Canada, the Garneau, Macdonald, and Ferguson prizes of the Canadian Historical Association, and the National Business Book Award.
10.
Michael Bliss was an honorary member of the Harvey Club of London, the oldest medical club in Canada, for his historical biographical contributions on Banting, another honorary member of the Harvey Club.
11.
Michael Bliss is an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and holds honorary degrees from the University of Prince Edward Island, McMaster University, McGill, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Toronto.
12.
In 2008 his students published a festschrift, "Essays in Honour of Michael Bliss: Figuring the Social".
13.
Michael Bliss frequently commented on current events, contributing essays to various magazine and newspapers, including The Globe and Mail.
14.
Michael Bliss opposed the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord and the 1999 NATO bombing of Kosovo and he advocated for the abolition of the Canadian monarchy.
15.
Michael Bliss strongly criticized Stephen Harper's 2006 move to recognize the Quebecois as a nation.
16.
Michael Bliss died on May 18,2017, in Toronto, Ontario, at the age of 76.