Margaret Trudeau

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Margaret Trudeau (2017)

Margaret Joan Trudeau , b. Sinclair, formerly Kemper (born September 10, 1948 in Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada ) is a Canadian author, actress, photographer and social advocate for people with bipolar disorder. The University of Western Ontario awarded her an honorary doctorate for her work in combating mental illness .

Margaret Trudeau is the mother of Justin Trudeau , the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada since 2015 . She was at the side of Pierre Trudeau , 15th Prime Minister of Canada (1968-1984 intermittently), First Lady of Canada.

Life

Margaret Trudeau was born Margaret Joan Sinclair in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is one of five daughters. Her father James "Jimmy" Sinclair came from Scotland , Margaret's mother Doris Kathleen Sinclair came from a family of colonists. Her father was born in Makassar , Sulawesi ( Indonesia ) and emigrated with his family to Penticton , British Columbia in 1906 at the age of 15 .

Margaret's family moved to Ottawa , Ontario in 1952 because her father was a member of the Canadian Parliament for the Liberal Party and was appointed Minister for Fisheries and Oceans in the Cabinet. Margaret attended a public school at Rockcliffe Park. After their father lost his position in 1958, they returned to North Vancouver, British Columbia. Margaret finished high school and then studied sociology until 1969 at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby , British Columbia, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology.

At the age of 18, during a family trip to Tahiti , she met Pierre Trudeau, 30 years her senior, who was Prime Minister of Canada from 1968. In 1971 they were married, for which Margaret had converted to Catholicism . The marriage resulted in three sons: the politician and current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (born 1971), the journalist and author Alexandre "Sacha" Trudeau (born 1973) and Michel Trudeau (1975-1998), who was killed in an avalanche. Margaret and Pierre Trudeau separated in 1977 and divorced in 1984. The separation period was not free from the conflicts and scandals reported by the media. Her ex-husband received custody of the three sons with the divorce .

In 1984 Margaret Trudeau married the German real estate entrepreneur Fried Kemper in a civil ceremony . There were two other children from this marriage: son Kyle (born 1984) and daughter Alicia (born 1988). This marriage ended in divorce in 1999.

job

With her separation from Pierre Trudeau in 1977 Margaret Trudeau concentrated on her professional development. She published Beyond Reason in 1979 , a book about living alongside the Prime Minister. She took on film roles in two Canadian films, L'Ange Gardien (1978) and Kings and Desperate Men (1981), and hosted a morning show and a talk show on Canadian television between 1981 and 1984 under her name.

In 2006 Margaret Trudeau made public that she suffers from bipolar disease . Since then, she has been campaigning in lectures and public events, mainly in North America , to eradicate the social stigma of mental illness - particularly bipolar disorder (BAS). She is the honorary patron of the Canadian Mental Health Association. In 2010, she published Changing My Mind in Canada , a book about her personal experience with bipolar disorder.

On June 19, 2013, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Western Ontario for her work in combating mental illness .

Margaret Trudeau spent 22 years with WaterAid Canada , an Ottawa-based organization committed to building sustainable water and sanitation services for the poorest communities in developing countries, most recently as honorary president. She gave up this post in 2017.

Political activities

Because her then-husband Pierre Trudeau almost suffered political defeat in 1972, Margaret Trudeau decided to get involved in the Canadian parliamentary election campaign in 1974 and support her husband. She spoke to thousands of people at election rallies and supported local candidates for her husband's Liberal Party. She was ridiculed in the media for her political support in the election campaign, also because she usually had her six-month-old son Alexandre around. The Liberal Party of Canada with the top candidate Pierre Trudeau emerged as the winner of the elections.

In the 1979 elections, Margaret Trudeau was no longer politically active for the Prime Minister and his party.

It was not until 2015, when her eldest son Justin ran for election for the Liberal Party of Canada, that she became politically active again. She was involved during the election campaign but avoided appearing for him in public so as not to provide a point of attack for her son's political opponents, who argued that he was "so incomplete that he needs his mom". Their slogan "Just Not Ready" missed its target. On October 19, 2015, the Liberal Party won the election and Justin Trudeau was elected Canada's 23rd Prime Minister.

Publications

Books

Movies

  • L'Ange Gardien (1978)
  • Kings and Desperate Men (1981)

TV moderation

  • Morning Magazine (1981-1983)
  • Margaret (1983-1984)

Web links

Commons : Margaret Trudeau  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Michael Callahan: Margaret Trudeau's Long Strange, Canadian trip. Vanity Fair, November 8, 2017, accessed April 2, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Library and Archives Canada: Passenger List of AORANGI, 1865-1922, List Number: 538728. June 12, 2013, accessed on April 2, 2019 (English).
  3. ^ J. Keith Johnson: Public Archives of Canada (1968). The Canadian directory of Parliament, 1867-1967. In: Queen's Printer. S 532, (English) .
  4. ^ Stephanie Ip: The Alumni: SFU celebrates 50 years of learning and leaders. The Province, September 6, 2015, accessed April 2, 2019 .
  5. ↑ a b Sarah Hampson: Margaret Trudeau is solo, sane, 60 - and irrepressible as ever. The Globe and Mail, May 8, 2009, accessed April 2, 2019 .
  6. ↑ The University of Western Ontario: List of Honorary Doctorates 1881 - today. Retrieved April 2, 2019 .
  7. ^ Margaret Trudeau's last job. MSN News, May 10, 2017, accessed April 2, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Edith M. Lederer: Mrs. Trudeau Hits Campaign Trail. In: Reading Eagle. Associated Press, July 2, 1974, accessed April 2, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Elizabeth Payle: Margaret Trudeau stayed out of campaign to avoid attack ads saying Justin 'needs his mummy'. National Post, October 23, 2015, accessed April 2, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Trudeau, Margaret
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Trudeau, Margaret Joan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian non-fiction writer, social advocate for people with bipolar disorder, first lady of Canada
DATE OF BIRTH September 10, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Vancouver