Nathan Phillips

Nathan Phillips (7 November 1892 — 7 January 1976) was a Canadian politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Toronto from 1955 to 1962. A lawyer by training, Phillips was first elected to Toronto City Council in 1926. He is the city's first Jewish mayor, ending an unbroken string of Protestant mayors. Early life Born in Brockville, Ontario, the son of Jacob Phillips and Mary (nee Rosenbloom), he was educated in public and high schools in Cornwall, Ontario. In 1908, he articled with the Cornwall lawyer, Robert Smith, who later would be named to the Supreme Court of Canada. He graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1913, but at 20-years-old, he was too young to be called to the bar. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1914 when he attained the age of majority, at age 21. He practised law in Toronto and was appointed a King's Counsel in 1929, and was thought to be the youngest person in the British Empire at the time to have that honour. He married Esther Lyons (1893–1983) on 7 March 1917. They had three children: Lewis; Madeline; and Howard. On Mother's Day, 12 May 1929, a motorist struck and killed Lewis while he was posting a letter in a mailbox for his father near their Lauder Avenue home. In 1949, Howard along with Nathan, became the first-ever son and father duo to sit as alderman at the same time on the City of Toronto council. Howard represented Ward 3, while Nathan represented Ward 4. Political career