Michael Bliss
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Michael Bliss (born 1941) is a Canadian historian and outspoken public figure.
Bliss entered the University of Toronto in 1958, and has been there ever since. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. there and since 1969 has been a professor in the department of history. One time a student asked him how long he had been at the U of T. "All my life," he said a bit mournfully.
His doctoral dissertation, which was supervised by Ramsay Cook, was a social history of Canadian business, an analysis of the "thoughts and dreams" of businessmen in Canada during the National Policy years. It was published under the title A Living Profit.
Bliss has worked primarily in political, business and medical history - his books on two Canadians, the discoverer of insulin Sir Frederick Banting and on the famous physician Sir William Osler have been well received. Like J.L. Granatstein, his criticism of social history has made him a controversial figure in Canadian historiography.
Bliss has been a frequent commentator on Canadian politics writing in newspapers and magazines, and appearing on television.
Works
- A Living Profit : studies in the social history of Canadian business 1883-1911 - 1974.
- Confederation, 1867 : The Creation of the Dominion of Canada - 1975
- A Canadian Millionaire: The Life and Business Times for Sir Joseph Flavelle - 1978
- The Discovery of Insulin - 1982
- Banting: A Biography - 1984
- Northern Enterprise: Five Centuries of Canadian Business - 1987
- Plague: A Story of Smallpox in Montreal - 1991 (nominated for Governor General's Award)
- Right Honourable Men - 1994
- William Osler: a Life in Medicine - 1999 (nominated for Governor General's Award)