Trevor H. LEVERE

1944 - 2022

TREVOR H. LEVERE After months of extraordinary determination and grace in his struggle to recover from post-op complications, Trevor Levere died on November 1, 2022. Trevor was born on March 21, 1944, in London, England, to Vicki and Gerry Levere. After completing his doctorate at Oxford, he crossed the Atlantic to join the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto in 1968. 'Clever Severe', as he was affectionately known by his graduate students, received many honours over a long and distinguished academic career. A gifted historian of chemistry, he also did groundbreaking research in science and romanticism, the history of Canadian science and the history of Arctic science. He wrote books in all these fields, was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the recipient of numerous fellowships and distinctions in Europe, North America and Japan. In recognition of his outstanding scholarly achievements the University of Toronto designated him University Professor, its highest research honour, in 2006. Outside academia, Trevor was a lover of birds (the ornithological kind), a doting grandfather, and omnivorously curious. It is impossible to summarize a life in a few lines, but his erudition, his beautifully dry sense of humour and his unfailing kindness will be deeply missed. During the last months of his life, Trevor insisted on learning the names and stories of everyone who looked after him – nurses, cleaners, doctors – and thanking them, no matter how much pain he was enduring. His grace and good humour survived every indignity visited on his body. He was deeply loved and admired, and will be forever missed by his wife, Jennifer; children, Kevin (Mary) and Rebecca (Colin); grandchildren, Kate, Besu, Abenu, Naomi and Milo; and brother, Kenneth. Trevor would have welcomed in memoriam donations to Birds Canada, to help protect the birds he so loved. A celebration of his life is being planned for the spring.