13 Facts About Saul Rae

Saul Forbes Rae was a Canadian diplomat during the Pearsonian era of Canadian foreign policy.

Saul Rae was born in Hamilton, Ontario on December 31,1914.

Saul Rae had two siblings, an older sister, Grace, who went to work as a dancer at the Radio City Music Hall, and a younger brother Jackie who had a long career in Canadian show business.

Saul Rae graduated from Jarvis Collegiate, then from University College at the University of Toronto in 1936, and went on to earn a doctorate from the London School of Economics as a Massey Fellow.

Saul Rae studied at Balliol College, Oxford, and went on to lecture at Princeton University where he worked at the American Institute of Public Opinion.

Saul Rae was a pioneering public opinion researcher co-authoring with George Gallup the 1940 book The Pulse of Democracy: Public Opinion and How It Works.

Saul Rae was the daughter of Stanley George, a Hampstead general medical practitioner, and Mildred, whose family was from Watford, England.

Saul Rae joined the Department of External Affairs in 1940, and would spend four decades with the civil service as a career diplomat.

Saul Rae was one of the first diplomats to serve in Paris after its liberation in 1944, having served as assistant to General Georges Vanier, Canada's representative to the Free French in Algiers.

Saul Rae later served as Canadian Minister in the United States, and was Canada's Ambassador to the UN in both Geneva and New York - the latter a role to which his son Bob was appointed in July 2020.

Saul Rae served as Ambassador to Mexico, and to the Netherlands.

Saul Rae retired in 1980 after suffering a series of small strokes.

Saul's brother, the late Jackie Rae was an entertainer and former host of The Jackie Rae Show on CBC.