User:Hutcher/Louis Bloomfield

Louis Mortimer Bloomfield (1906-1984) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman and soldier.

Early life & Military Career
Louis was born in Montreal to Harry Bloomfield in 1906. He received a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University in 1927 and his Master of Laws from the University of Montreal in 1930. A Zionist, Bloomfield joined the British military prior to World War II and served in Palestine as an Intelligence Officer under General Charles Orde Wingate. Bloomfield was involved in training the Jewish army, Haganah (1936-1939).

Bloomfield was recruited into the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) in 1938 the same year it's head, William Stephenson, negotiated closer ties between the United States and British Intelligence Agencies. On the advice of William Stephenson US President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Office of Strategic Services in 1942 and Bloomfield was recruited by that organization and given the rank of Major in the United States Army. His main assignment with the OSS was to help create and head recruitment for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's counter-intelligence group Division Five. He continued with this group well after the war  During World War II Bloomfield was officially attached to the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps.

Lawyer & Businessman
At the close of the war the SOE's operations in the US ended and Bloomfield focused on international law from until 1970 at the firm of Phillips, Bloomfield, Vineberg and Goodman in Montreal. His most famous legal client until the late 1960's was the Samuel Bronfman family with whom he maintained a business relationship until his death. In 1947, the OSS evolved into the Central Intelligence Agency, and Bloomfield continued his relationship with the organization. He acted for King Carol II of Romania who sought entry into Canada after World War II and an elected magistrate of the "Tribunal Mixte" Tangier (International Zone) in 1949. He was a regular visitor to Israel and met the Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion on 4th May, 1949.

In 1952, Bloomfield became an overseas representative of the International Executive Board of the International Law Association making him a ranking official of the United Nations. His expertise: terrorism, piracy and civil aviation.

He was also a major stockholder of Centro Mondiale Commerciale (CMC). The CMC was accused by the Italian Press of being a cover for CIA espionage in Italy. He was the president and chairman of the board of Permindex, a contraction of "Permanent Industrial Expositions", since it's creation in 1958. Accusations of Permindex's involvement in the financing for the 1962 Organisation de l'armée secrète (OAS) assassination attempt on French President Charles De Gaulle prompted the removal of Bloomfield's name from the letterhead of his law firm in 1968. Amoung his other holdings were Heineken’s Breweries Canada Ltd and Credit Suisse of Canada. In 1967, Credit Suisse of Canada was exposed as the conduit of, and the FBI's Division Five the source of the funds for the De Gaulle assassination plot by De Gaulle's Intelligence Bureau Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage.

Bloomfield had an active public service career serving with: National Capital Commission, 1963-1976; president, Quebec Council of St. John; co-founder and vice-president, World Wild Life Fund Canada; and was Honorary Consul General, Republic of Liberia 1962-1984. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University, the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Technion Israel Institute of Technology. He was associated with the Histadrut campaign of Canada, Chairman of Canadian Red Cross Ambulance Service and the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem.

Bloomfield wrote several books: The British Honduras-Guatemala Dispute, 1953; Grundung und Aufbau Kanadischer Aktiengesellschaften, 1960; Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons, 1962 with Gerald F. Fitzgerald ; Egypt, Israel and the Gulf of Aqaba in International Law, 1967; and La Convention de Varsovie dans une Optique Canadienne, 1976. He authored and co-authored many articles and reviews mostly in the field of international law.

He received an Doctor of Laws from St. Francis Xavier University in 1964, a Doctor of Philosophy (honorary degree) from the Hebrew University in 1973 and a Doctor of Civil Law from St. Thomas University in 1973.

Bloomfield Archives
Prior to his death he donated 31 boxes of documents, Bloomfield Archives to the Library and Archives Canada with the condition that they were not to be made public 20 years after his death. The papers have yet to be made available and are the subject of a legal dispute.

Honours
Histadrut Humanitarian Award 1967