Adrienne Clarkson

The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, 26th Governor General of Canada, has been an award-winning journalist, publisher, and public servant. Born in Hong Kong, Clarkson came to Canada as a refugee during the war in 1942 and settled with her family in Ottawa. She earned an Honours BA and an MA in English Literature from the University of Toronto, and did postgraduate studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, becoming fluently bilingual.

In the 1980s she became Ontario’s Agent General in Paris for five years; she was president and publisher of McClelland & Stewart before returning to the CBC as executive producer, host, and writer for programs including Adrienne Clarkson Presents. Clarkson became an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1992. She holds more than 20 honourary degrees from Canadian universities, as well as from the St. Petersburg Mining Institute in Russia and the University of Sienna in Italy. She was honoured with the Order of Friendship of the Russian Federation in 2006. In July 2006, the Blood Tribe of Alberta adopted Clarkson as an Honourary Chief.

On relinquishing the title of Governor General, she is proud to retain her new name of “Grandmother of Many Nations.” In 2006, Clarkson’s autobiography, Heart Matters, was published and was a bestseller in hardcover and paperback.