Yousuf Karsh

Early life and arrival in Canada Yousuf Karsh was born to Ottoman Armenian parents Amsih Karsh (1872–1962), a merchant, and Bahia Nakash (1883–1958), on December 23, 1908, in Mardin, Diyarbekir Vilayet (present day Mardin Province, Turkey). His father was a weaver and importer of artisanal goods, including spices, indigo, silks, and textiles acquired through markets along the Persian Gulf, while his mother, the daughter of an engraver, had been educated at the Protestant-sponsored American Mission School. He had two brothers, Jamil and Malak. "My recollections of those days comprise a strange mixture of blood and beauty, of persecution and peace," he later wrote.

In 1923, Karsh's parents arranged for him, at the age of fifteen, to immigrate to Canada as part of a humanitarian initiative to reunite displaced Armenians with relatives already living in the country. He arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 31, 1923, by ship from Beirut. In 1928, Nakash arranged for Karsh to continue his training in Boston, Massachusetts, as an assistant to John H. Garo, a prominent portrait photographer and member of Armenian diaspora. During his apprenticeship, Karsh developed both technical proficiency and the social skills required to photograph prominent figures by observing Garo himself photograph Boston celebrities.

Karsh settled in Ottawa, initially working for photographer John Powis; his first commissions were from local Ottawa theatre groups. Karsh opened his first studio in 1932. Through Ottawa's theatre community, Karsh gained access to broader cultural and political circles through his introduction to Adele M. Gianelii, social editor of Saturday Night magazine.

His 1941 photo, The Roaring Lion, featuring British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, brought him international prominence. The photograph was taken on December 30, 1941, in the Speaker's Chamber of the House of Commons in the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa, moments after Churchill delivered a wartime address to members of the Canadian Senate and House of Commons. The sitting was arranged by Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. It appeared on the cover of the May 21, 1945, issue of Life, which bought it for $100. The accused thief, Jeffrey Wood, pled guilty on March 14, 2025.

During World War II, Karsh photographed political and military leaders and began capturing photos of writers, actors, artists, musicians, scientists, and celebrities in the post-war period. His 1957 portrait of the American novelist Ernest Hemingway, taken at Hemingway's Cuban home Finca Vigía, is another well-known photo by Karsh.

He was a visiting professor at Ohio University and at Emerson College in Boston. Among them were Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Walt Disney, Princess Elizabeth (future Queen Elizabeth II), Leonid Brezhnev, Nikita Khrushchev, Martin Luther King, Fidel Castro, Yuri Gagarin and others.

Gallery

Personal life

Karsh was one of the 26 people to become a citizen of Canada on January 3, 1947, at the first citizenship ceremony presided over by Chief Justice Thibaudeau Rinfret at the Supreme Court Building in Ottawa, shortly after Canadian citizenship was created.

Karsh's first marriage was to Solange Gauthier (1902−1961) in 1939. They initially moved into her apartment and in 1940, into an Art Deco home called Little Wings on the Rideau River just outside Ottawa. Their wedding was officiated by Fulton J. Sheen, Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York. From 1972 to 1992 they lived in a third-floor suite at Château Laurier, Ottawa

Retirement and death Karsh retired from making photographs in 1993 and moved to Boston in 1997. He died on July 13, 2002, at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston after complications following surgery.

Recognition

Karsh has been recognized as Canada's leading portrait photographer. In general, he is recognized as one of the best-known The Canadian Encyclopedia noted that his portraits "have come to represent the public images of major international figures of politics, science, and culture in the twentieth century".

The Karsh Award, dedicated to Yousuf and his brother Malak Karsh, is awarded by the City of Ottawa every two years to an established professional artist for outstanding artistic work in a photo-based medium.

Awards Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1961) Order of Canada: Officer (1967), Companion (1990) Ohio University (1968), Tufts University (D.F.A., 1981), Syracuse University (D.F.A., 1986), Ohio State University (Doctor of Humane Letters, 1996), University of Hartford (1980),

Karsh has been inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.

Publications

Faces of Destiny (1946) Portraits of Greatness (1959) In Search of Greatness (1962) Karsh Portfolio (1967) Faces of Our Time (1971) Karsh Portraits (1976) Karsh Canadians (1978) Karsh: A Fifty-Year Retrospective (1983) Karsh: American Legends (1992) Karsh: A Sixty-Year Retrospective (1996) Heroes of Light and Shadow (2001) Photography in Canada, 1839–1989: An Illustrated History by Sarah Bassnett and Sarah Parsons. Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2023. Yousuf Karsh: Life & Work by Melissa Rombout. Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2025.