UNESCO director-general visits U of T, tours historic insulin collections

It’s a collection that demonstrates “the University of Toronto’s role as a custodian in the process of cultural heritage preservation,” says UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova.

On a recent visit to U of T, Bokova pored over papers and photos from the 1920s – and examined the Nobel Prize awarded to the University of Toronto researchers who discovered the treatment for diabetes. 

“I was really moved by this wonderful exhibition,” Bokova said. “We saw the personal notes of Frederick Banting, John Macleod, Charles Best and James Collip as well as patient letters, children’s photographs, notebooks and – particularly moving – were the letters of children that were saved, the patients of Dr. Banting.” 

The Discovery of Insulin Collections at U of T’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library was inscribed last year into UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program Register – one of only four Canadian collections to receive the distinction.

On campus to deliver that evening’s Faculty of Information’s I.P. Sharp lecture, Bokova spoke about the wide-reaching “human impact” of the collection. Her tour included a viewing of Banting’s notebooks, scrapbooks and early experiment charts, and she spent some time speaking with Banting’s great grand-nephew, Bob Banting. 

“Seeing the collection was a really personal experience for me, very moving,” she said.

During her lecture, held in partnership with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO on November 18, Bokova spoke about how the world watches cultural artefacts and treasures get destroyed through war, social unrest and lack of resources – and how it is more important than ever to preserve them for future generations.

“The Memory of the World Program is anchored in the human experience,” she said. “It’s difficult to think critically about something until it’s actually gone or in the past.” 

But, she added, documents can be significant markers and reminders of the environment in which they were created. 
Despite vast cultural differences that may exist between Canada and other countries, Bokova said, all citizens have the same duty to protect and preserve cultural heritage materials, whether they are documents, manuscripts, oral traditions, audio-visual materials or archival holdings. This goal is at the core of the Memory of the World program, established by UNESCO in 1992. 

“At UNESCO, heritage is not just a document, but a value system,” she told the audience.

It’s important to ask how we use material culture to construct narratives about our existence, and how they inform us of the past and help us prepare for the future, Bokova said. This is especially important today, she added, when societies are becoming more digitized through technology advances. Countries need to adapt and to work together, she said.

“All cultures are different, but human is a single community.”

Bokova had high praise for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, headed by alumna Christina Cameron, calling it “vibrant, dynamic and forward-thinking” for its contributions toward saving cultural heritage. She also recognized the work of the Faculty of Information, as a leading academic institution in the field of knowledge management and information sciences, empowering students with the tools to preserve world heritage.

UofT iSchool Dean Seamus Ross said Bokova brilliantly illustrated how the initiatives UNESCO is leading are widening public understanding of our informational and cultural heritage.

“Our Faculty is proud that our students and scholars are contributing to facilitating the future of our documentary heritage and its narrative potential,” said Ross. “Ms Bokova drove home the value of what they are doing.”

Professor Meric Gertler, president of U of T said, “Cultural heritage is a matter of the greatest importance to universities, and we play a key role in preserving, understanding and transmitting it for the good of society and for future generations.

“The University of Toronto is proud of the outstanding contributions made by the iSchool and University of Toronto Libraries in this crucial cause, and we commend Ms Bokova and UNESCO for their global leadership.”

The I.P. Sharp Lectureship was established at the Faculty of Information Studies in 1989 with an endowment from Reuters Information Services (Canada) Limited in honour of its founding president and former chief executive officer, Ian P. Sharp. It is intended to bring internationally-renowned people to the campus to explore the transformative effects of information practice. The lectures, which are open to the profession and members of the public, are delivered every three to four years by a distinguished figure in information science and related fields.