{{Short description|Canadian diplomat known for the Canadian Caper}} {{Use Canadian English|date=March 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2026}} '''John Vernon Sheardown''' {{post-nominals|CM}} (October 11, 1924 – December 30, 2012) was a Canadian diplomat who played a leading role in the "Canadian Caper". He and his wife Zena personally sheltered Americans hiding in Iran during the Iran hostage crisis.

==Early life== Sheardown was born on October 11, 1924, in Sandwich, Ontario (now Windsor, Ontario).<ref name=NYT>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/05/world/americas/john-sheardown-canadian-who-sheltered-americans-in-tehran-dies-at-88.html |title=John Sheardown, Canadian Who Sheltered Americans in Tehran, Dies at 88 |author=Douglas Martin |date=January 4, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref>

At the age of 18, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and piloted an Avro Lancaster heavy bomber in World War II, surviving having to bail out over England returning from a mission.<ref name=LAT>{{cite news |url=http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-me-john-sheardown-20130108-story.html |title=John Sheardown dies at 88; Canadian envoy who aided Americans in Tehran |agency=Associated Press |date=January 8, 2013}}</ref> He remained in the military after the war and also served in Korea.<ref name=LAT/>

He later worked for the Canadian immigration service, beginning around 1962, then in the foreign service for 27 years,<ref name=LAT/> retiring in 1989.<ref name=GM>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/obituary-john-sheardown-was-a-diplomat-daredevil/article6970897/ |title=Obituary: John Sheardown was a diplomat, daredevil |author=Patrick White |date=January 4, 2013 |newspaper=The Globe and Mail}}</ref>

==Canadian Caper== On November 4, 1979, the Iran hostage crisis began; 52 American diplomats and civilians were taken hostage by Iranians in Tehran. At the time, Sheardown was the chief immigration officer,<ref name=GM/> the second-ranking official at the Canadian Embassy there.<ref name=NYT/>

A group of five Americans had escaped capture. After hiding for six days, one of them, Robert Anders, telephoned Sheardown, a friend he had played tennis with, for help.<ref name=NYT/> Sheardown immediately contacted his superior, Ambassador Ken Taylor, who apprised the Canadian government. Approval was quickly given.<ref name=GAC>{{cite web |url=http://international.gc.ca/history-histoire/people-gens/ken_taylor.aspx?lang=eng |title=Ken Taylor and the Canadian Caper |publisher=Global Affairs Canada |access-date=2017-05-03 |archive-date=2018-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202192425/http://international.gc.ca/history-histoire/people-gens/ken_taylor.aspx?lang=eng |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sheardown and his wife Zena hid three of the Americans (Anders and married couple Cora Amburn-Lijek and Mark Lijek) in their rented 20-room home for 79 days at great personal risk, while Taylor sheltered two others (couple Joseph and Kathleen Stafford).<ref name=GAC/> On November 27, Taylor received a call from the Swedish ambassador Kaj Sundberg, asking him to take in American Lee Schatz.<ref name=GAC/> Schatz had been staying with a Swedish diplomat, but the Swedish ambassador felt he could better impersonate a Canadian.<ref name=GAC/> Taylor agreed, and placed Schatz in the Sheardown residence.<ref name=GAC/> The Sheardowns left Tehran days before the CIA smuggled the six Americans out of the country under fake Canadian passports on January 27, 1980.<ref name=GM/>

For his part in the Canadian Caper, Sheardown was made a member of the Order of Canada.<ref name=NYT/> He lobbied for his wife, ineligible as a British citizen who had never lived in Canada, to be awarded the same honour, which she received in 1981<ref name=NYT/> on an honorary basis through the intervention of Flora MacDonald. (She later became a full member after becoming a Canadian citizen.)

John and Zena Sheardown were portrayed in the 1981 Canadian-American television movie ''Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper'' by Chris Wiggins and Diana Barrington, respectively. After the big-budget Hollywood movie ''Argo'' about the Canadian Caper was released in 2012, director Ben Affleck called to personally apologize to the Sheardowns for having to leave them out due to plot and time constraints,<ref name=LAT/> stating in a later interview, "It really did break my heart a bit."<ref name=NYT/>

==Personal life and death== Sheardown was married twice. He and his first wife, Kathleen Benson, divorced. He was married to his second wife, Zena Khan, from 1975 until his death in Ottawa on December 30, 2012. He had battled Alzheimer's disease and other ailments. He was also survived by two sons, Robin and John Jr.; daughter Jacqueline; and various grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

==References== {{reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheardown, John}} Category:1924 births Category:2012 deaths Category:Diplomats for Canada

Category:Canadian expatriates in Iran Category:Canadian military personnel of the Korean War Category:Canadian World War II pilots Category:Iran hostage crisis Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:People with Alzheimer's disease Category:Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II