Christopher Ondaatje

Sir Philip Christopher Ondaatje, OC, CBE, FRSL (/ɒnˈdɑːtʃi/; born 22 February 1933) is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian-English businessman, philanthropist, adventurer, writer and bob-sledding Olympian for Canada. Ondaatje is the older brother of author Michael Ondaatje and lives in both Chester, Nova Scotia and the United Kingdom.

Overview

Born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) to a Chetty-Burgher family of Dutch and Indian origin, Ondaatje first went to S. Thomas' Preparatory School in Kollupitiya as one of its first students, and later went to Blundell's School in the United Kingdom. His name comes from an Indian ancestor called Ondaatchi from Thanjavur, India.[1] After his alcoholic father lost the family fortune, Ondaatje had to leave school a year from graduation. In 1956, he emigrated to Canada, arriving in Toronto with virtually no money. He quickly began to rebuild the family fortune, becoming a wealthy stockbroker, going on to be one of the three founding members of Loewen Ondaatje McCutcheon. He became a multi-millionaire in the publishing industry by founding the Pagurian Press, which he later sold to the Bronfman family.

He represented Canada in the four-man bobsled at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. Although the first Canadian men's team won gold in the event, Ondaatje's team finished 14th out of 28 competitors.[2]

Philanthropy

Ondaatje is a prominent philanthropist;[3][4] among the institutions he has helped are: The National Portrait Gallery, The Royal Geographical Society, Somerset County Cricket Club, Blundell's School, The Sir Christopher Ondaatje Devon Cricket Centre at Exeter University,[5] Lakefield College School, Dalhousie University, the National Ballet School, the Royal Ontario Museum (the Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery), Massey College in the University of Toronto, Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia[6] and the Chester Playhouse.[7]

The Royal Society of Literature's Ondaatje Prize is named after Ondaatje,[8] as is the Ondaatje Prize for Portraiture from the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.[9]

Political donations

In 2000 Ondaatje donated £2 million to the UK Labour Party.[10]

Adventurer

After many years of success, in which Ondaatje was considered one of Toronto's most aggressive and predatory businessmen, he left the business world in 1995. He moved to Britain and began a career as a philanthropist and adventurer. Travelling through India and Africa, he also became an author, following in the footsteps of his younger brother Michael Ondaatje, a world-renowned novelist. His books describe his travels and adventures.

His 2003 book Hemingway in Africa details his thesis regarding the life and motivations of Ernest Hemingway.

Honours

Ondaatje was made a Knight Bachelor by the Queen in 2003 for his philanthropic work.[11] He was also made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2000,[10] and is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Senior Fellow of Massey College.

He was elected an Honorary Fellow of The Royal Society of Literature in 2003.[12]

In 2011, he was made an Honorary Fellow of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) and was awarded its Gold Medal. In 2013, the RCGS established a medal in his name — the Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration[13] — which is awarded annually to outstanding Canadian explorers.

Publications
  • Olympic Victory: The story behind the Canadian Bob-Sled Club's incredible victory at the 1964 Winter Olympic Games (1967)
  • The Prime Ministers of Canada, 1867–1967 (1968)
  • Leopard in the Afternoon — An Africa Tenting Safari (1989)
  • The Man-eater of Punanai — a Journey of Discovery to the Jungles of Old Ceylon (1992)
  • Sindh Revisited: A Journey in the Footsteps of Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton (1996)
  • Journey to the Source of the Nile (1999)
  • Hemingway in Africa: The Last Safari (2004)
  • Woolf in Ceylon: An Imperial Journey in the Shadow of Leonard Woolf, 1904–1911 (2005)
  • The Power of Paper: A History, a Financial Adventure and a Warning (2007)
  • The Glenthorne Cat and other amazing leopard stories (2008)
  • The Last Colonial: Curious Adventures & Stories from a Vanishing World (2011)
  • Ondaatje, Christopher, ed. (2013). Love Duet and Other Curious Stories about Music. Minehead, Somerset: Rare Books and Berry.

See also

References
  1. Ancestry.com
  2. "Canada Bobsleigh at the 1964 Innsbruck Winter Games", Sports Reference.
  3. Grice, Elizabeth (17 October 2007). "Sir Christopher Ondaatje: 'I have always identified with predators'". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  4. Jury, Louise (5 June 2001). "Ondaatje comes to the rescue of 'Literary Review'". The Independent. London.
  5. Cricket Centre Archived 23 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine, University of Exeter, UK.
  6. Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Canada.
  7. Chester Playhouse Archived 9 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Canada.
  8. Ondaatje Prize, The Royal Society of Literature, UK.
  9. Prizes Archived 21 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, UK.
  10. McSmith, Andy (5 January 2001). "Labour reveals more £2m donors". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  11. "Knights bachelor – full list". BBC News. London. 13 June 2003.
  12. "Current RSL Fellows". The Royal Society of Literature. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  13. "Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration". The Royal Canadian Geographical Society. The Royal Canadian Geographical Society. Retrieved 13 January 2017.

Further reading
  • Ridley, Jane (4 January 2014). "The food of love". Books. The Spectator. 324 (9671): 25. Reviews Love duet ....
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