Background
Vincent was born on February 20, 1887 in Toronto, Canada. The son of Chester D. and Anna (Vincent) Massey.
Vincent was born on February 20, 1887 in Toronto, Canada. The son of Chester D. and Anna (Vincent) Massey.
Massey studied at the University of Toronto, where he received a Bachelor odArts degree in 1910 and a Doctor of Laws degree in 1927. He also attended Balliol College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in 1913, a Master of Arts degree in 1918. He entered Princeton, where he obtained a Doctor of Laws in 1927.
Massey lectured in modern history at the University of Toronto from 1913 to 1915 until he was appointed associate secretary of the cabinet war committee during World War I (1914–18). After the war he directed the Massey-Harris Company, the family farm-equipment business, until 1925, when he became minister without portfolio in W.L. Mackenzie King’s Liberal cabinet. In 1926 he was appointed Canada’s first minister to the United States, where he stayed until 1930.
From 1932 to 1935 Massey served as president of the National Liberal Federation before being appointed high commissioner for Canada in the United Kingdom, at which post he served until 1946. The following year he became chancellor of the University of Toronto. In 1949, as chairman of the Royal Commission on National Development in Arts, Letters, and Sciences, Massey spoke of Canada’s need to break away culturally from the United States. He was named Canadian governor-general in 1952 and served in that post until his retirement in 1959.
Vincent Massey was married to Alice Stuart Parkin.