About Stephen Leacock
Stephen Butler Leacock, 1869-1944
Stephen Butler Leacock is known as the Grandfather of Canadian Humour. In the early 1900s, Stephen Leacock was regarded as the best known humorist in the world. His work was translated into over 20 different languages, and he was a household name, along with other friends of his, including F. Scott Fitzgerald, Rudyard Kipling, Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin and J.M. Barrie.
Leacock is best known for his Elements of Political Science and satirical books, Literary Lapses, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town, and Arcadian Adventures of the Idle Rich.
Did you know?
- Leacock Received the Mark Twain Medal in 1935.
- He was a celebrated lecturer at McGill University and travelled internationally.
- His writing blended humour, politics, and social commentary.
Childhood and education
Leacock was born in England in 1869 and emigrated to Canada with his parents and siblings when he was seven years old. Leacock studied languages and literature at Upper Canada College and the University of Toronto, but hard times forced him to withdraw from those studies and become a high school teacher. Eventually he resumed his studies and earned his Bachelor of Arts. In 1903, Leacock also earned his PhD in Political Science and Political Economy.
Career
In 1908, he became head of his department at McGill University and helped found the University Club. Leacock was elected to the Royal Society of Canada in 1919 and in 1921, made an extensive lecture tour of the United Kingdom. In 1935 he received the Mark Twain Medal.
Retirement
Stephen Leacock, Canada's beloved humorist, spent his most creative time in what he coined as Lake Simcoe Country. He retired from McGill University in 1936 to Old Brewery Bay in Orillia where he enjoyed his many recreational and leisure pursuits.
Leacock died on March 28, 1944 in Toronto following surgery for throat cancer and was buried in the family plot at St. George's Church, Sibbald Point.
The Leacock Family
Stephen Butler Leacock owed his success in part to many other people that surrounded him. Despite his talent for writing humour, without the help of his family, friends, staff and colleagues, the world might have never heard of his work.
Today, the Leacock Museum is actively conducting research on those who had a role to play in Stephen Leacock's success and the success of the home on Old Brewery Bay.
At the Leacock Museum, learn about Stephen's family including his wife, Beatrix Maud Hamilton Leacock and son, Stephen Lushington Leacock "Stevie Jr."
The museum uses the Leacock family and their circumstances in history as a lens to explore diverse topics surrounding the history of literature, cottaging, art, and the early 1900s.
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