Arthur started his working life with the Canadian Press, and served overseas with the Princess Louise Fusiliers. But he is more publicly known for his distinguished career as a Canadian diplomat. When a relative is accomplished enough to be included in Canada’s Who’s Who, it’s something to be bragged about!
While in the Foreign service Arthur held six important posts. His first posting was as Charge d’affaires to Austria in 1953 and 1954 during the “cold war”, around the end of the post-war Allied occupation of Austria. It was a volatile time in Europe, with worker strikes and uprisings in nearby East Germany.
Between 1957 and 1960, Arthur held the position of Charge d’affaires to Czechoslovakia, which was then a “people’s democracy" and a satellite state of the the Soviet Union under President of Antonin Novotny. In Canada it was the start of the Diefenbaker era, supporting human rights and reforming Canada’s immigration laws.
Between 1962 and 1965 Arthur simultaneously held the foreign posts of High Commissioner to Cyprus, and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Israel. He had his hands full! Cyprus had been a British Colony and the a Crown Colony until 1960, and joined the United Nations as an independent nation in 1961. But the continuing unrest between Greek and Turkish factions on the island and the need for international intervention must have created repercussions for Arthur. The Jewish State of Israel, since it’s creation in 1948, has been frequently in the spotlight. They were involved in the Suez-Sinai War in 1956, and the Six-Day War in 1967. In 1963 during Arthur’s posting, Israel had a change of president, Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, no doubt causing some upheaval in the diplomatic realm. In August 1962, Arthur had the pleasure of meeting with Golda Meir, Foreign Minister from 1956 to1966, and Kadish Luz, Speaker of the Knesset from 1959 to 1969.
In his final two positions, Arthur served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. In Sweden between 1965 and 1969, the country was enjoying stable years of prosperity. On the other hand, Greece (where Arthur was posted between 1975 and 1978) was in transition. Their military dictatorship that had seized power in 1967 had ended in 1974 when Constantine Karamanlis became the new Premier. But the war in Cyprus and the Greek Junta Trials of August of 1975 helped create turbulent times during Arthur's tenure in Greece.
But where did Arthur get his start? He was born 20 Nov 1915 in Pictou, Nova Scotia, Canada, the youngest of six children of Rev Canon Albert Edward ANDREW and Minnie Ethel SINCLAIR. The family had moved to Windsor NS by 1921, and later to Newport and North Sidney, Nova Scotia before returning to live in Pictou in 1926. So Arthur attended grade school in Nova Scotia. Most of his ANDREW first cousins (including my mother) grew up in Prince Edward Island (another maritime province), and there were some summertime family visits in both direction. especially as the children grew older. One of my favorite photos was taken on such a visit to Greenhill Nova Scotia on 2 Sep 1936. It shows three smiling faces of three first cousins, each the child of a different ANDREW brother. Alice ANDREW (daughter of Horace) was born 1918, this Arthur ANDREW (son of Albert) was born 1915, and my mother Mabel ANDREW (son of Harry) born 1918. There were actually two cousins with the name of Arthur ANDREW, the second one born to Horace in 1920 in PEI and the brother of Alice. So the Arthur in Nova Scotia was dubbed “Arthur Pictou” by his cousins.
All the cousins grew up and went their separate ways. Arthur married Joyce Mowbray SIRCOM at the age of 25 in 1940, and together they had two daughters. Arthur died on 31 May 1994 in Halifax, NS at the age of 78.
This branch of the family has fostered several accomplished, humanitarian and service-minded individuals, often involved at a national and international level. Such was Arthur’s life, and his achievements certainly deserve much admiration.
Arthur Julian Andrew Career - Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
Arthur Julian Andrew Bio
Arthur Julian Andrew - wikipedia
Arthur Julian Andrew, author - amazon
Allied Occupied Austria - wikipedia
Cold War (1953-62) - wikipedia
Canada and the Diefenbaker Government, 1957-63 - Canada Channel site
History of Czechoslovakia - wikipedia
History of Cyprus - wikipedia
Israel Modern History and Timeline - Jewish Virtual Library site
Golda Meir
Sweden History - Local Histories site
Timeline of Modern Greek History - wikipedia