Elizabeth Mann Borgese

Elisabeth Mann Borgese, CM was the youngest daughter of Thomas Mann and his wife Katia Pringsheim, sister to Klaus, Erika, Golo, Monika and Michael Mann, sister-in-law to W.H. Auden, and niece of the novelist Heinrich Mann.

Elisabeth was born in Munich, Germany. The Mann family left Germany after Hitler came to power, moving first to Switzerland, and, in 1938, to the United States. She became a United States citizen in 1941, but took Canadian citizenship in 1983. In 1939 she married to the anti-fascist Italian writer Giuseppe Antonio Borgese (1882 – 1952), 36 years her senior, by whom she had two daughters, Angelica and Dominica.

She worked as an editor and researcher in Chicago, including two years as executive secretary of the board of the Encyclopædia Britannica in the mid-1960s. She early committed herself to the protection of the environment, in particular the oceans, and was one of the founding members – and for a long time the only female member – of the Club of Rome. As a recognized expert on maritime law and policy, she worked as a university professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. She died on a skiing holiday in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

Among musicians, she is known for having translated Heinrich Schenker's Harmony into English.

In 1988, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada. Her citation for this award read:

"A true citizen of the world, she has been involved with a number of global issues and has been a trusted spokesperson and defender of the rights of Third World countries. Currently Associate Director of the Lester Pearson Institute for International Development and an advocate of international co-operation, she is recognized as an authority on the Law of the Sea and is respected for her undisputed knowledge, her outstanding leadership abilities and her commitment to a better future for all."

In 1999, the National Maritime Museum awarded her its Caird Medal.