Born in North Dakota in 1895, Paul H. T. Thorlakson moved to Selkik, Manitoba with his parents in 1900. He graduated form the Manitoba Medical College in Winnipeg in 1919 and in 1923 gained membership in the Royal College of Surgeons in London, England. Thereupon he returned to Winnipeg to begin a life-long medical practice. In 1938 he converted his practice into the first multi-specialty private group practice clinics in Canada--the Winnipeg, Clinic. In 1945 he created the Manitoba Institute for the Advancement of Medical Education and Research. His interests in improving medical practice and research led to his active participation in the establishment of the Health Science Centre, an amalgamation of teaching hospitals and facilities in downtown Winnipeg. Later in his life, Dr. Thorlakson organized the First International Congress of Group Medicine. Dr. Thorlakson was also involved in other varied community interests including raising funds for the Chair of Icelandic Language and Literature at the University of Manitoba in 1951, chairing the Canadian Icelandic Centennial Committee of 1974, fundraiser for the Betel Nursing Home in Gimli, Manitoba, serving of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism, and fulfilling a nine year term as Chancellor of the University of Winnipeg from 1969 to 1978. The Collection contains 62 boxes of the following archival material: extensive life-long correspondence with family, medical parctitioners, community leaders and friends; his articles and speeches; lists; unpublished biographies; operation procedures as a surgeon; daily appointment diaries; travel logs and itineraries; selected reports by others; minutes of various committees and councils; memoranda; news clippings; selected reference materials.
