Robbert Hartog

{{Short description|Canadian economist (1919–2008)}} {{Infobox economist | honorific_prefix = | name = Robbert Hartog | honorific_suffix = CM | image = Robbert Hartog.png | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_date = {{birth date|1919|01|28}} | birth_place = Nijmegen | death_date = {{death date and age|2008|01|27|1919|01|28}} | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | citizenship = | spouse =  | website =  | institution =  | field = Economist, business leader and philanthropist | occupation = | years_active = | school_tradition = | alma_mater = University of Toronto | doctoral_advisor = | academic_advisors = | doctoral_students = | notable_students = | influences = | contributions = | awards = Bronze Wolf | memorials = | repec_prefix = | repec_id = | module = | signature =  | notes =  }}

'''Robbert Hartog''' CM (January 28, 1919 – January 27, 2008),<ref name=obit>[http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nationalpost/obituary.aspx?n=robbert-hartog&pid=102232769 Obituary]</ref> was an economist, business leader and philanthropist in Midland, Ontario, Canada.<ref>Inland Seas, Volume 22, Issue 4 Great Lakes Historical Society., 1966 - Great Lakes (North America) p. 338 Robbert Hartog, Midland, Ontario</ref><ref name=hoc>[https://books.google.com/books?id=YQZOAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Robbert+Hartog%22 House of Commons Debates, Official Report] (Hansard), Volume 142, Issues 38-47 E. Cloutier, Queen's Printer and Controller of Stationery, 2008 p 2524 STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS [English] ROBBERT HARTOG Mr. Bruce Stanton (Simcoe North, CPC): "Mr. Speaker, a week ago Sunday, my riding lost one of its most celebrated community leaders and builders.".</ref><ref>https://www.cintl.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=942 Biography of Robbert Hartog, First Chair of CCI's Board, Going to Print</ref>

==Background== Born and raised in Nijmegen as the son of Arthur Hartog and Jenny Catz,<ref name=obit/> Hartog immigrated to Canada in 1940/1941. He enrolled at the University of Toronto and graduated with a master's degree in Economics in 1942.(?) He immediately returned to Europe to join the Allied war effort serving in the Netherlands Forces as an economist, and helped bring the financial situation back in balance. Hartog asked to be demobilized in Canada after his tour of duty, and returned to settle in Canada in 1946, when he founded Kindred Industries Limited, which became a multi-national corporation eventually employing 1,400 people. In the 1970s, Hartog merged Wallaceburg Brass with Kindred Industries, becoming the founding Chair and CEO of Waltec Incorporated in Midland. In 1984, the year he sold the company, Waltec was listed by Canadian Business as one of the 25 most profitable companies in Canada.<ref name="FreePressProfile">{{cite news|title=Robbert Hartog Named Fellow of Georgian College|publisher=Midland Free Press|date=3 October 2003|id={{ProQuest|352538157}}}}</ref><ref name=hoc/>

In the book "The First 25 Years of Fairfax" it is explained that Robbert Hartog was instrumental in the founding of the group of insurance companies that would go on to become Fairfax Financial.

Hartog was an active supporter of the Boy Scouts,<ref name="HarkerMemories">{{cite news|last1=Harker|first1=Jennifer|title=74 Years of Memories|publisher=The Midland - Penetanguishene Mirror|date=11 February 2010|id={{ProQuest|362886999}}}}</ref> served as the Chairman of the Educational Methods Group of the World Scout Committee,<ref>John S. Wilson (1959), Scouting Round the World. First edition, Blandford Press. p. 133, 269</ref> and was awarded the 147th ''Bronze Wolf'' in 1981, the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptional services to world Scouting.<ref>Dr. László Nagy, ''250 Million Scouts'', The World Scout Foundation and Dartnell Publishers, 1985</ref><ref name="wolfie">{{Cite web | url = https://www.scout.org/BronzeWolfAward/List | title = List of recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award | publisher = WOSM | website = scout.org | access-date = 2019-05-01 | archive-date = 2016-01-29 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160129145907/https://www.scout.org/BronzeWolfAward/list | url-status = dead }}</ref>

Hartog was a donor to philanthropic causes. The Georgian College Robbert Hartog Midland Campus is named after him.<ref>[http://www.academica.ca/top-ten/georgian-college-names-midland-campus-after-philanthropist-robbert-hartog Georgian College names Midland campus after philanthropist Robbert Hartog] (August 25, 2008)</ref> He served as Prssident of the Midland, Ontario YMCA Men's Club in 1969, and was a benefactor of the YMCA.<ref name="SpohnYMCA">{{cite news|last1=Spohn|first1=Peter|title=Celebrating Public Service: Y's Men 75 Years|publisher=Midland Free Press|date=13 October 2000|id={{ProQuest|352556271}}}}</ref><ref name="YMCACampaign">{{cite news|title=YMCA's capital campaign begins with kick-off|publisher=Midland Free Press|date=11 February 2005|id={{ProQuest|352525764}}}}</ref> He also supported Canadian Executive Service Organization, The Wye Marsh, World Wildlife Federation, Canadian Crossroads International, and University of Waterloo.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robbert Hartog Graduate Scholarship |url=https://uwaterloo.ca/graduate-studies/awards/robbert-hartog-graduate-scholarship |website=Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs |access-date=13 December 2020 |language=en |date=2 December 2016}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Portal|Scouting}} *Teahen, Shannon. ''Robbert Hartog: A Lifetime of Changing Lives''. University of Waterloo Press, 2009 {{ISBN|0968282741}}.<ref>[https://www.cintl.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=942 Biography of Robbert Hartog], First Chair of CCI's Board, Going to Print</ref>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartog, Robbert}} Category:1919 births Category:2008 deaths Category:20th-century Canadian businesspeople Category:20th-century Canadian inventors Category:Dutch emigrants to Canada Category:Naturalized citizens of Canada Category:People from Nijmegen Category:Recipients of the Bronze Wolf Award Category:Scouting and Guiding in Canada Category:University of Toronto alumni