Humphrey Hume Wrong

Wrong, Humphrey Hume

Humphrey Hume Wrong, diplomat (b at Toronto 10 Sept 1894; d at Ottawa 24 Jan 1954). Grandson of Edward BLAKE and son of historian George WRONG, Hume Wrong was raised in privileged circumstances. He attended U of T, was denied enrolment in the Canadian Expeditionary Force because of a blind eye, enlisted in the British Expeditionary Force, and served at the front before being invalided home. He studied history at Oxford and was hired in 1921 to teach history in his father's department at U of T. In 1928, Vincent MASSEY, a family friend, called Wrong to Washington as first secretary in the new Canadian legation, and Wrong spent the next decade there learning the craft of diplomacy. Service at the League of Nations, in London, in Washington once more, and in Ottawa for 3 critical wartime years followed. As Norman ROBERTSON's closest colleague, Wrong devised and honed the idea of functionalism, a principle which argued that in those areas in which Canada had the resources of a great power - food, minerals, air power - she should be treated like a great power. Functionalism became the basis of Canadian wartime policy, and to it must be credited much of the gains in Canadian influence and prestige. Wrong was posted to Washington as ambassador in 1946. There he had great influence, resolved financial problems, and did the actual day-to-day negotiation of the North Atlantic Treaty. In 1953 he returned to Ottawa as undersecretary but died before he could take up the reins.