Lester Bowles Pearson (1897-1972) was a distinguished Canadian diplomat and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Later he became leader of the Liberal party and prime minister of Canada.

Lester Bowles Pearson was born in Toronto, Ontario, on April 23, 1897. His education at the University of Toronto was interrupted by World War I, during which he served overseas in Egypt, Greece, and Great Britain. Pearson afterward returned to the university, graduating in 1919. He then went to Oxford, receiving a second bachelor's degree and a master's degree. From 1924 to 1928 he taught history at the University of Toronto. In 1929 he left academia to enter the Department of External Affairs in Ottawa.

Pearson's diplomatic career kept him in Ottawa until 1935, when he was sent to London as first secretary to the Canadian High Commission, a post he held until 1941. He returned to Ottawa as assistant undersecretary of state for external affairs, and...