Women’s History Month

By Myriam Brenner, FSWC Education Coordinator

Rosalie Abella’s “entire life has revolved around the cause of human rights… She has shaped Canadian policy in equality rights, and…has also had a profound impact on human rights law and policy outside Canada. Her contributions to society as a lawyer, teacher, commissioner, and judge have always been shaped by her profound humanity.” (President of Commission of Jurists, Canadian Section)

Given her trailblazing career, Rosalie Abella is one of the most accomplished and widely admired women in Canada. She broke new ground in the Supreme Court where she was the first Jewish female judge, the first refugee judge, the youngest judge to serve and the first judge to be pregnant on the bench. When viewed against the challenges of her childhood, Rosalie’s many achievements, including numerous awards and publishing four books, are even more impressive.

Born on July 1, 1946, in a displaced persons camp in Stuttgart, Germany, she spent her early years in the shadow of the Second World War. Her parents had married on September 3, 1939, in Poland two days after Nazi Germany invaded the country, triggering the war. Although they both survived the Holocaust, their 2-year-old son was murdered by the Nazis.

In 1950, Rosalie and her family moved to Canada, where her father, a lawyer, was prevented from practicing law as he was not a Canadian citizen. Despite being highly educated, he was admitted into Canada only as a shepherd and underwear cutter. This injustice, along with her father instilling in Rosalie a passion for law, influenced her decision at a young age to become a lawyer.

Hers is the quintessential successful immigrant story. By age ten, Rosalie had become a piano prodigy and was one of the youngest graduates of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. She also graduated from high school with one of the highest-grade averages in Ontario. In 1968, she married historian Irving Abella with whom she had two sons.

Rosalie studied law at the University of Toronto and at age 29, six years after opening up her own practice, she was appointed to the Ontario Family Court. In 1992, she was elevated to the Ontario Court of Appeal and in 2004, she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, retiring at the age of 75.

Rosalie’s well-known theories of “equality” and “discrimination” were adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada in its first decision regarding equality rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1989. These legal theories were later adopted by several other countries.

As a tribute to her illustrious life and career, including receiving 40 honorary degrees and several awards, not to mention being the author of many articles published in leading newspapers, lecturing around the world and being a champion of humanitarianism, Rosalie was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2023.

Learn more from Rosalie herself, by listening to her interview on the Agenda:

https://youtu.be/ZcOdwk6ydRs