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Frank Gehry lost his Canadian citizenship after his family moved to the U.S., when dual citizenship was not an option. Former prime minister Jean Chrétien restored the architect’s citizenship in 2002.Mark Lennihan/The Associated Press
Former prime minister Jean Chrétien says famed architect Frank Gehry, who died Friday at age 96, spoke to him about moving back to Canada after the election of U.S. President Donald Trump last year.
Mr. Gehry was born in Toronto, but lost his Canadian citizenship after his family moved to Los Angeles in 1947, when dual citizenship was not an option.
Mr. Chrétien and Mr. Gehry were close friends. In 2002, during Mr. Chrétien’s time in office, he restored Mr. Gehry’s Canadian citizenship. The architect then held dual citizenship.
“I gave him back his Canadian citizenship. He was sworn in as a Canadian in my office. The only newcomer sworn in the office of the Prime Minister,” Mr. Chrétien said in an interview with The Globe and Mail on Saturday. “So I was very pleased to make him a Canadian.”
The former prime minister said Mr. Gehry was despondent over the election of Mr. Trump and had reached out to talk about returning to Canada.
Frank Gehry, legendary architect of some of world’s most iconic buildings, dies at 96
“He was very discouraged with the election of Trump. He looked at the possibility of coming back to Toronto with his family. We looked into it, but the health of his wife and eventually his own health made that too complicated,” Mr. Chrétien said. “He was a very proud Canadian. He was serious.”
Mr. Chrétien said Mr. Gehry often told him that he always used his Canadian passport when he travelled abroad. His office in Los Angeles had a huge Canadian flag and a prominent picture of Canadians who had played for the L.A. Kings, such as Wayne Gretzky, Roger Vachon and Marcel Dionne.
“He was a great hockey fan,” Mr. Chrétien said.
The former prime minister, 91, said he struck up a friendship with Mr. Gehry because he had been fascinated with architecture and had wanted to be an architect.
“My dad said to me, ‘You will never be elected as an architect. You go to the law school.’ And those days you listened to dad. And he wanted to have a politician and he got it.”
Frank Gehry, the architect behind some of the world’s most recognizable buildings, died on Friday morning at his home in Los Angeles.
The Canadian Press
One of Mr. Gehry’s celebrated architectural achievements is his L.A. home, where he lived for more than 40 years. He wrapped a Dutch colonial house in a sharply angled structure of plywood, corrugated steel and chain-link fence.
What is not known, according to Mr. Chrétien, is that “all the wood came from Canada.”
Another little-known fact is that, in 1937, Mr. Gehry’s family moved from Toronto to the gold mining town of Timmins, Ont. But the family faced antisemitism in Timmins and moved back to Toronto. They eventually left for California.
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“I was talking to him every month at least for many years. He lived in Timmins, which was typical of Canada at the time. There was a lot of Eastern Europeans there and a lot of French Canadians,” Mr. Chrétien recalled.
“For the Canadians, [they should] know that he was extremely proud of being a Canadian and I am very proud that I was the one to give him his Canadian citizenship back.”
Mr. Chrétien and his late wife Aline were known for their private support of the arts and cultural communities.
When he travelled abroad and visited Mr. Gehry’s architectural works, Mr. Chrétien said he would always say, “This guy, I know him well. He’s a Canadian.”
