“learn first-hand their view of the situation”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Figure timeline
Michael Ignatieff
Michael Grant Ignatieff is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party and leader of the Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a historian, Ignatieff has held senior academic posts at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, and Toronto. Most recently, he was rector and president of Central European University; he held this po…
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
culture · Canadian author, academic and former politician · journalist · historian · politician · novelist · philosopher · writer · university teacher · screenwriter · also Michael Ignatieff, M.G. Ignatieff, Michael Grant Ignatieff, Ignatieff
Born 12 May 1947 · Q311684
60 published statements · 0 followers
See & hear
Photos & media
3 photos
Media from Wikimedia Commons, hotlinked at the source under its own licence — see each file for author and terms.
Live now
In the news
Pulling headlines from trusted outlets — this usually takes a few seconds
Checking the wires…
Feed scan
These are live links, not archived citations — they only join the timeline once a collect run verifies and archives them.
Live pulse
Recent highlights
Most recent outstanding titles, awards, and quotes
- Quote
- Quote
2026· 2 entries
“I have reasons to take the Ukraine seriously indeed. But, to be honest, I”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
2024· 3 entries
Awarded Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences (2024).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
San Diego Union-Tribune: Canadian historian Michael Ignatieff wins Spain’s Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences
- #news
- #headline
Was awarded the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2019· 2 entries
Awarded Dan David Prize (2019).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Ignatieff was awarded the Dan David Prize for his contribution to defending democracy
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2016· 2 entries
It was announced that Michael Ignatieff would succeed John Shattuck to become the fifth president and rector of the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Left Harvard to become president and rector of the Central European University in Budapest; he resigned from this position in July 2021
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2013· 4 entries
Wall Street Journal: Book Review: 'Fire and Ashes,' by Michael Ignatieff
- #news
- #headline
Ignatieff published a book about his political career called Fire and Ashes: Success and Failure in Politics
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Career landmark: Cleveringa chair (2013–2014).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
Returned to Harvard Kennedy School part-time, splitting his time between Harvard and Toronto
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2012· 1 entry
Awarded Francisco Cerecedo Prize (2012).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
2011· 7 entries
Election lost: 2011 election to Conservative challenger Bernard Trottier, becoming the first incumbent Leader of the Official Opposition to lose his own seat since Charles Tupper's defeat.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #election
- #lost
Ignatieff announced that he would be resigning as leader of the party pending the appointment of an interim leader; his resignation went into effect on May 25 when Bob Rae was appointed as Ignatieff's interim replacement
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Ignatieff's Liberals lost 43 seats only winning 34 and thus slipped to third party status behind the NDP and the Conservatives, who gained a majority in Parliament
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Christian Science Monitor: Michael Ignatieff: Canadian candidate struggles to prove his Canadianness
- #news
- #headline
Stating that "[t]he party that wins the most seats on election day will form the government"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Ignatieff introduced a motion of non-confidence against the Harper government to attempt to force a May 2011 federal election after the government was found to be in contempt of Parliament, the first such occurrence in C
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Campaign: 2011 election.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #election
- #campaign
2010· 2 entries
Foreign Affairs: Michael Ignatieff
- #news
- #headline
When those motions were proposed as a binding private member's bill from Liberal MP Gerard Kennedy, CTV News reported that Ignatieff "walked out during the vote
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2009· 3 entries
Ignatieff announced that the Liberal Party would withdraw support for the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Ignatieff was officially endorsed as the leader of the Liberal Party by 97% of delegates at the party convention in Vancouver, British Columbia
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“s Green Shift. In a speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce in February 2009, he said;”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
2008· 4 entries
To once again announce his candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
And on March 30, 2009, Ignatieff voted in support of non-binding motions in the House of Commons calling on the government to "allow conscientious objectors
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Career landmark: member of the House of Commons of Canada (2008–2011).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
Career landmark: Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada (2008–2011).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
2007· 1 entry
The Halifax Chronicle-Herald reported that unidentified Dion supporters were accusing Ignatieff's supporters of undermining by-election efforts, with the goal of showing that Dion could not hold on to the party's Quebec
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2006· 7 entries
New Liberal leader Stéphane Dion named Ignatieff his deputy leader, in line with Dion's plan to give high-ranking positions to each of his former leadership rivals
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Ignatieff led the leadership candidates on the first ballot, garnering 29% support
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Ignatieff described the Qana attack as a war crime (committed by Israel)
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Ignatieff announced his candidacy in the upcoming Liberal leadership race, joining several others who had already declared their candidacy
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Ignatieff said: "Sometimes you want to increase your influence over your audience by appropriating their voice, but it was a mistake
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
“Sometimes you want to increase your influence over your audience by appropriating their voice, but it was a mistake. Every single one of the students from 85 countries who took my courses at Harvard knew one thing about me: I was that funny Canadian.”
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #quote
Career landmark: member of the House of Commons of Canada (2006–2008).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #milestone
2005· 1 entry
Was criticized by his peers on the editorial board of the Index on Censorship, where human rights advocate Conor Gearty said Ignatieff fell into a category of "hand-wringing, apologetic apologists for human-rights abu
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2004· 2 entries
Three Liberal organizers, former Liberal candidate Alfred Apps, Ian Davey (son of Senator Keith Davey) and lawyer Daniel Brock, travelled to Cambridge, Massachusetts, to convince Ignatieff to move back to Canada and run
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Published The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror, a philosophical work analyzing human rights in the post-9/11 world
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2003· 2 entries
Awarded Hannah Arendt Prize (2003).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
Maclean's named him Canada's "Sexiest Cerebral Man"
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
2000· 3 entries
Delivered the Massey Lectures, entitled The Rights Revolution, which was released in print later that year
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Ignatieff accepted a position as the director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Entitled The Rights Revolution, which was released in print later that year
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1998· 2 entries
Was on the first panel of the long-running BBC Radio discussion series In Our Time
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Deals with ethnically motivated conflicts, including the conflicts in Afghanistan and Rwanda
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1997· 1 entry
And one of the "50 Most Influential Canadians Shaping Society" in 2002
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1994· 1 entry
Awarded Lionel Gelber Prize (1994).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1988· 1 entry
Awarded Heinemann Award (1988).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1987· 1 entry
Awarded Governor General's Award for English-language non-fiction (1987).
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #award
- #achievement
1978· 2 entries
On taking up a fellowship at King's College there
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
Moved to the United Kingdom, where he held a senior research fellowship at King's College, Cambridge, until 1984
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1976· 1 entry
Ignatieff completed his Ph
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1968· 1 entry
As a national youth organizer and delegate for Pierre Trudeau's leadership campaign
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1959· 1 entry
Ignatieff was sent back to Toronto to attend Upper Canada College as a boarder
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1947· 2 entries
Born 1947-05-12.
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikidata
- #birth
In Toronto, the elder son of Russian-born Canadian Rhodes Scholar and diplomat George Ignatieff, and his Canadian-born wife, Jessie Alison (née Grant)
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event
1900· 1 entry
As well as the first sitting Liberal leader since Mackenzie King lost his riding in the 1945 election
Text from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- #wikipedia
- #event