Extraordinary Canadians: Norman Bethune

Honoured as a hero in China, Ontario-born Norman Bethune was a surgeon, medical innovator, and charismatic political activist who deployed his skills on the battlefields of Spain and China in the 1930s. His prodigious energy included inventing surgical instruments, mobile blood-transfusion units, teaching, and advocating for social justice at home and abroad. Adrienne Clarkson, a Chinese Canadian, has always been fascinated by the dynamic man who married his social conscience to his medical mission. Reviled as a Communist by some, revered as a humanitarian by others, Bethune was a complicated, inspirational figure who lived and loved on a large canvas.

ADRIENNE CLARKSON became Canada’s 26th governor general in 1999 and served until September 2005. In her multifaceted career as an accomplished broadcaster and distinguished public servant she has received numerous prestigious awards and honorary degrees in Canada and abroad. In 2005, she founded The Institute for Canadian Citizenship. A Privy Councillor and Companion of the Order of Canada, she lives in Toronto.