Jeffrey de Fourestier

Jeffrey de Fourestier (1960-) claims to be a modern "renaissance man", lexicographer, mineralogist, historian, who was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to a German immigrant family of Huguenot ancestry.

The following is his own account and may therefore be somewhat subjective.

Contents

1 Beginnings 2 In the international arena 3 Academia 4 The Middle Kingdom 5 Mineralogy 6 Bibliography 6.1 Works 6.2 Contributed to

Beginnings

His father, Manfred, had been a communications officer in the German Postal Administration and the Navy, as well as an interpreter for the British Guards Division while they were stationed in the Ruhleben barracks, Plön, Holstein, Germany during the post-WW II occupation. He exposed his young son to the importance of languages. As well, the various stories of different far-flung places from his father and from his grandfather (who had served as a German marine in Peking and Tsingtao following the Boxer Rebellion), influenced Jeffrey de Fourestier to travel extensively around the world.

Growing up in rural Quebec, he was exposed to the French-English cultural upheavals in the 1960s known as the "Quiet Revolution". Although his main pastime usually involved geology, it wasn't until he struck out on his own at the end of the 1970s that his wide varieties of interests would finally put him on the path to becoming one of the most important lexicographers of mineralogy nomenclature.

Working for the James Bay Energy Corporation, he learned to speak French while contemplating his future at La Grande-3 and Caniapiscau in the far northern stretches of the Quebec taiga before returning to Montreal to begin university. It was during this period that he got to know the movers and shakers of Quebec society, including René Lévesque, Bernard Landry, and Robert Bourassa

Although his life-long dream had been to become a mineralogist, a dispute with a professor ultimately caused him to abandon his studies in geology. Thus began a very long and circuitous route to becoming a world recognized specialist in mineral names.

He continued on to finish a Bachelor degree in International Relations. Although having been recommended for an honours degree (cum laude) by his department, and having achieved the highest grades for the international law course in the university's history, he was denied his honours by the rector on very spurious grounds.

Just before graduating, he co-founded a graphic arts firm and was a pioneer of computer-assisted design, being one of the first in Montreal to use Mac-based technology. One of the posters he designed together with his apprentice, Wayne Millett, was included in the UNESCO collection of posters for International Youth Year and was displayed at the UNESCO World Congress on Youth in Barcelona, Spain (to which he was a delegate), in 1985. Unfortunately, a corrupt business partner, who embezzled all of the firm's earnings, put an end to the company. This period did give him important insights into layout and graphic design that he would use in many of his later career projects.

In the international arena

At about the same time he got involved with a group of fellow like-minded young people to found the International Youth Year Conference on Law. At first hired on as a consultant on communications, he quickly became the Director of Communications and Protocol responsible for developping and implementing all communications strategies, media relations and participation of the international community. Through cunning and audacity he managed to ensure the participation of 62 countries, including all permanent members. He also received the full support of the UN's Executive Secretary of International Youth Year, Mr. Mohammad Sharif, who attended the conference as the personnal representative of the Secretary General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar. The Conference was one of only six international events mentioned in the Secretary General's report on IYY to the 40th General Assembly of the United Nations, and the only such initiative mentioned in the report under Canada. Jeffrey de Fourestier was invited to attend the session and sat with Mr. Sharif next to the podium as the report was delivered (October, 1985).

The extremely successful conference mandated the founding of the International Organisation on Youth and Law. Jeffrey de Fourestier was given the task to organise the necessary international recognition and succeeded in getting four countries to give diplomatic recognition. No small feat. Unfortunately, before UN NGO recognition could be obtained, the organisation found all of its Canadian government funding cut at this most critical juncture by the then government of Brian Mulroney for whom IYY and youth were no longer a priority and cutting was. Its fate was sealed.

Jeffrey de Fourestier did set a reputation with UN's Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs (ECOSOC) for novel approches to difficult subjects. When the world AIDS/HIV pandemic raised its ugly head, he was approached by the CSDHA to redraft the UN's first strategy on information and educational programmes for AIDS prevention and control directed at youth the world over and crossing then difficult cultural barriers and missinformation. The document was groundbreaking and much of it is still timely.

Ten years later, his name was put forward by the Family Unit of the UN and he was invited to sit on a panel of experts to the first International Fatherhood Summit held at Christ Church, Oxford, England in March of 2003 (Summit Report, p.12)[1] (http://www.bernardvanleer.org/downloads/P&R20.zip).

Academia

As a result of being denied an honours BA, de Fourestier was required to first complete a BA History equivalent program before he was permitted to complete his graduate studies at McGill University, earning an MA in 1992. Although at first discouraged from writing on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, he ultimately wrote the definitive history on it and managed to produce a thesis that provided not only original work but was the first historian to lay out in very clear terms the former Soviet Union's co-responsibility for the outbreak of World War II. As such, his little-known thesis is an important milestone in the understanding of the origins of WW II.

During his stay at McGill, he was awarded two full scholarships and assisted in teaching two undergraduate courses on Soviet and East-Central European history. He also re-established his links with the Geology Department and the Redpath Museum where he had worked as an assistant to the Curator of Geology during his undergraduate studies.

The Middle Kingdom

In 1987, he participated in the first Chinese language programme done by McGill University in China. Continuing his study of Mandarin, he returned the following summer where he took on the added responsibility as the assistant to Director of the Chinese Language Programme. This afforded him the opportunity to study at three prestigious Chinese institutions of higher learning: Zhejiang University, Qinghua University and Nanjing University.

The following year, in May of 1989, he returned as the Coordinator General of the McGill Summer Study in China Programme. Although far from Peking, Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, where he was located, was pulled into the upheavals, now known as the Tiananmen Incedent, that had swept across China. When, two days after the events of June 4 had occurred, he was given the order to evacuate all students in his charge from McGill. Despite civil order having broken down, he managed to evacuate all safely to Hong Kong. He deliberately disobeyed an order to evacuate himself at the same time, preferring instead to remain behind to help with the evacuation of a similar study group from Germany (DAAD). He succeeded and arrived in Hong Kong on June 9, 1989. In 1996 he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for his actions, the 28th civilian so honoured in Canadian history.[2] (http://www.gg.ca/Search/honours_descript_e.asp?type=1&id=81&tc=2)

Mineralogy

Bibliography

Works

• "The Naming of Mineral Species Approved by the Commission on New Minerals and Mineral Names of the International Mineralogical Association (http://wwwobs.univ-bpclermont.fr/ima/): A Brief History", The Canadian Mineralogist (http://www.mineralogicalassociation.ca/abstracts.htm/), Volume 40, pp. 1721-1735 (2002). [ISSN 0008-4476] [3] (http://www.geo.vu.nl/users/ima-cnmmn/CNMMNhistory.pdf)
• Glossary of Mineral Synonyms, 2nd edition, Mineralogical Association of Canada (http://www.mineralogicalassociation.ca/), Montreal, 1998. [ISBN 0-921294-44-1](Review see:[4] (http://www.minsocam.org/MSA/AmMin/TOC/Abstracts/2000_Abstracts/Oct00_abstracts/bookreviews_p1570_00.pdf))
• "Recruitment, Development and Integration of Young Leaders into the Civil Service - a Canadian Experience", Culture and Education: Education and Human Resources (2), Proceedings of the 2nd Asia-Pacific Young Leaders Conference, National Youth Commission, Executive Yuan, Taipei ROC, May, 1997.
• Glossary of Mineral Synonyms, 1st edition, Verlag Sanssouci, Montreal, 1994. [ISBN 0-9698372-0-8]
• The Hitler-Stalin Pact: discussion of the Non-Aggression Treaty and the Secret Protocols, McGill University, 1992. [Masters thesis]
• Management Trainee Program Policy, Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada (Treasury Board of Canada (http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/) and the Public Service Commission (http://www.psc-cfp.gc.ca/)), Ottawa, 1997. [In French: Politique du Programme de stagiaires en gestion]
• Lexicon of OCOL Terminology and Colloquialisms: As used in the Field of Complaints and Audits, Minister of Supply and Services (Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages (http://www.ocol-clo.gc.ca/)), Ottawa, 1994. [In French: Lexique de termes et d’expressions en usage au CoLO] [ISBN 0-662-60315-X]
• Youth and AIDS: Strategy on Information and educational Programmes for AIDS Prevention and Control, United Nations (http://www.un.org/), 1993. [UN publication ST/CSDHA/23] (Co-author)
• Management Trainee Program - Principles and Guidelines,Treasury Board of Canada and the Public Service Commission, Ottawa, 1996. [In French: Programme de stagiaires en gestion - Principes et lignes directrices] (Co-editor)
• Background Papers of the I.Y.Y. Conference on Law, International Youth Year Conference on Law, Montreal, 1985. *("A Definition of Youth" cited in: Sandra Stephenson, ed., Youth: a Special Case, Law & Youth Research Group, Montreal, 1986.) (Editor)
• Juventus et Lex; Report of the International Youth Year Conference on Law, I.O.Y.L., Montreal, 1985.
• Minerals, Rocks, and Gems on Stamps, Verlag Sanssouci, Montreal, 1994. [ISBN 0-9698372-1-6]
• Bulletin of the Ottawa Valley Mineralogical Association, Ottawa. (Editor1995-1997) [ISSN 1203-7508]
• Fossil and Mineral Hunting Around Montreal, Marcil Museum, St.Lambert (Que.), 1984. (Co-author)

Contributed to

• Perspectives on Canada and Germany (Newspaper), Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, Ottawa, 1995-. [ISSN 1205-5174]
• Zheda Post (Newspaper), Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, PR China, 1988.
• Evaluation Report on the Second Generation of Action Plans for the Implementation of Part VII of the Official Languages Act, Report of the Commissioner of Official Languages (http://www.ocol-clo.gc.ca/), [Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, Ottawa], June 1998.
• Government Transformations: The Impact on Canada's Official Languages Program, Commissioner of Official Languages, Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada (http://www.pwgsc.gc.ca/), (Ottawa), 1998. (In French: Les effets des transformations sur le programme des langues officielles du Canada) [ISBN 0-662-63402-0]
• Quintin Wight, Willow Wight, transl., Treatise on Carinthian Lead Spars (by F.X. Wulfen), Mineralogical Record (http://www.minrec.org/), Tuscon (Ariz.), 1997.
• Bryn Thomas, Trans-Siberian Handbook, 2nd edition, Trailblazer Publications (http://www.trailblazer-guides.com/), Surrey [U.K.], 1991. [ISBN 1-873756-00-3]
• Youth Information Bulletin, CSDHA, United Nations (http://www.un.org/) (Vienna), 1985-1986. [V.86-56783/3088T; etc.]
• Janet Waddington, David M. Rudkin, edits., Proceedings of the 1985 Workshop on Care and Maintenance of Natural History Collections, (Ingrid Birker, Joan Kaylor) "Pyrite Disease: Case Studies From the Redpath Museum", Royal Ontario Museum, (Toronto), 1986.