Obituary for John Edgar Flint
It is with great sorrow that the family announces the peaceful passing of John Flint on Aug. 29, 2021 at the age of 91.
He will be lovingly remembered by his wife, Fatemeh Nezhat Flint, stepchildren Flora Mehrmanesh, Iradj G. Mehrmanesh, and Forouzan Kobra Mehrmanesh (Bijan Fallah), grandchildren Alice R. Lawlor (Amy Knowles), John M. Lawlor and their father John Lawlor, Laura S. Mehrmanesh (Michael Cohen), Jeffrey B. Mehrmanesh (Lindsay Mehrmanesh), Sabrina F. Fallah, great grandchildren Freddie J. Lawlor-Knowles, Henry G. Lawlor-Knowles, Evelyn F. Mehrmanesh, Stella A. Mehrmanesh, Flint P. Cohmanesh, Sedona R. Cohmanesh, and nieces and nephews. Farshad Sepandj was a special nephew to John as he had helped Farshad immigrate and live with them while he attended Dalhousie University all the way through Medical School.
He was predeceased by his daughter, Helen Sarah Lawlor, and son, Richard John James Flint.
John Flint was born in Montreal on May 17th 1930 to Alfred Edgar Flint, a French polisher and lay clerk, and Sarah Flint née Pickup. His mother died after his parents’ return to England when John was still young. Owing to the itinerant
occupation of his father he often stayed with relatives of his mother’s family in Barnoldswick, Yorkshire. Back with his father in Leicester, he attended Alderman Newton’s Grammar School where he was encouraged to apply to Cambridge. He received his BA in 1952 and MA in 1954.
He was a Lecturer in the History Department of Kings College, London, from 1954-67, completing his PhD in 1957. During this time, he spent a year as Head of Department at the newly created University of Nigeria, Nsukka; he also spent a year in the US teaching at the University of California. In 1967, he returned to Canada to take up the Chair of African History and Directorship of the African Studies centre at Dalhousie University where he remained until his retirement in 1992.
John counted himself fortunate to have survived tuberculosis as a young man — by luck, he found himself in the active cohort of a trial for antibiotic treatment and escaped with one lung intact. A kind, genial man and great story-teller with a
gift for languages, he was admired by generations of students (notably those from Africa who came to study with him).
His first wife, Sheila ‘Billie’ Doreen née Curran and both his children, the novelist and poet Helen (1952-2000) and campaigner Richard (1959-2007) all tragically fell to the hereditary disease cerebellar ataxia. He married Fatemeh Nezhat Sepandj in 1975 and together with her children and his grandchildren and great- grandchildren enjoyed a happy and settled family life. He moved to Ottawa on his retirement and continued to pursue academic interests and write book reviews well into his later years.
Principal publications: Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria (OUP 1960), Nigeria and Ghana (Prentice Hall 1966), Perspectives of Empire (Prentice Hall 1973), Cecil Rhodes (Little, Brown 1974), Cambridge History of Africa Vol 5 (CUP 1977).
A private celebration of his life will be held on Sept.9, 2021.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his name can be made to Ottawa Civic hospital or the Alzheimer Society with great appreciation.
He will be lovingly remembered by his wife, Fatemeh Nezhat Flint, stepchildren Flora Mehrmanesh, Iradj G. Mehrmanesh, and Forouzan Kobra Mehrmanesh (Bijan Fallah), grandchildren Alice R. Lawlor (Amy Knowles), John M. Lawlor and their father John Lawlor, Laura S. Mehrmanesh (Michael Cohen), Jeffrey B. Mehrmanesh (Lindsay Mehrmanesh), Sabrina F. Fallah, great grandchildren Freddie J. Lawlor-Knowles, Henry G. Lawlor-Knowles, Evelyn F. Mehrmanesh, Stella A. Mehrmanesh, Flint P. Cohmanesh, Sedona R. Cohmanesh, and nieces and nephews. Farshad Sepandj was a special nephew to John as he had helped Farshad immigrate and live with them while he attended Dalhousie University all the way through Medical School.
He was predeceased by his daughter, Helen Sarah Lawlor, and son, Richard John James Flint.
John Flint was born in Montreal on May 17th 1930 to Alfred Edgar Flint, a French polisher and lay clerk, and Sarah Flint née Pickup. His mother died after his parents’ return to England when John was still young. Owing to the itinerant
occupation of his father he often stayed with relatives of his mother’s family in Barnoldswick, Yorkshire. Back with his father in Leicester, he attended Alderman Newton’s Grammar School where he was encouraged to apply to Cambridge. He received his BA in 1952 and MA in 1954.
He was a Lecturer in the History Department of Kings College, London, from 1954-67, completing his PhD in 1957. During this time, he spent a year as Head of Department at the newly created University of Nigeria, Nsukka; he also spent a year in the US teaching at the University of California. In 1967, he returned to Canada to take up the Chair of African History and Directorship of the African Studies centre at Dalhousie University where he remained until his retirement in 1992.
John counted himself fortunate to have survived tuberculosis as a young man — by luck, he found himself in the active cohort of a trial for antibiotic treatment and escaped with one lung intact. A kind, genial man and great story-teller with a
gift for languages, he was admired by generations of students (notably those from Africa who came to study with him).
His first wife, Sheila ‘Billie’ Doreen née Curran and both his children, the novelist and poet Helen (1952-2000) and campaigner Richard (1959-2007) all tragically fell to the hereditary disease cerebellar ataxia. He married Fatemeh Nezhat Sepandj in 1975 and together with her children and his grandchildren and great- grandchildren enjoyed a happy and settled family life. He moved to Ottawa on his retirement and continued to pursue academic interests and write book reviews well into his later years.
Principal publications: Sir George Goldie and the Making of Nigeria (OUP 1960), Nigeria and Ghana (Prentice Hall 1966), Perspectives of Empire (Prentice Hall 1973), Cecil Rhodes (Little, Brown 1974), Cambridge History of Africa Vol 5 (CUP 1977).
A private celebration of his life will be held on Sept.9, 2021.
In lieu of flowers, donations in his name can be made to Ottawa Civic hospital or the Alzheimer Society with great appreciation.