Stephen Lewis, Canada’s former ambassador to the United Nations and a longtime social activist, died at 88, the Stephen Lewis Foundation announced. The foundation said Lewis had been diagnosed with stomach cancer eight years ago.
Lewis, a prominent writer and orator in Canada, spent decades championing human rights and equality issues including women’s rights, and he also pushed for attention to the impact of AIDS on African families. He was widely associated with speaking out on poverty and warning about climate change, as well as condemning physical and sexual violence against women and children.
In a statement released shortly after his death, Lewis’ family said he “spent the last eight years of his life battling cancer with the same indomitable energy he brought to his lifelong work: the unending struggle for justice and dignity for every human life.” The statement added, “The world has lost a voice of unmatched eloquence and integrity.”
Before his international roles, Lewis built his political career in Canada. He began working for the federal New Democratic Party and in 1963, at age 26, was elected to the Ontario legislature. In 1970, he became leader of the provincial NDP, which in 1975 became the official opposition, and in 1978—after the party suffered an electoral setback—he resigned as leader and later worked as a media commentator, lecturer and labor arbitrator.
In 1984, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney appointed Lewis as Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, a role he held for four years. After that stint, the statement says Lewis was named special adviser to the U.N. secretary-general on African affairs, a post he held until 1991.
Lewis later moved into senior U.N. humanitarian and health roles. From 1995 to 1999, he was deputy director of UNICEF, and from 2001 to 2006 he served as the U.N. special envoy for AIDS in Africa.
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Lewis “joined Canadians in mourning the loss of Stephen Lewis, a pillar of compassionate leadership in Canadian democracy and a renowned global champion for human rights and multilateralism.” In a statement, Carney said that as a member of Ontario’s legislature, leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party and Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Lewis “moved millions with his appeals for a compassionate and just society.”
Carney said Lewis helped position Canada as a principled leader in ending apartheid in South Africa and believed that proper health care was key to reducing poverty and growing economies.
Lewis was married to journalist and social activist Michele Landsberg. The couple had three children: Ilana Landsberg-Lewis, Jenny Leah Lewis, and Avi Lewis, who was elected leader of Canada’s leftist federal New Democrat Party on Sunday. Lewis’ son Avi Lewis is married to writer Naomi Klein.