Madam Justice Rosalie Abella

Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella studied arts and law at U of T. She practiced civil and family law until the age of 29 when she was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice, becoming both the youngest and first pregnant judge in Canadian history. She was elevated to the Ontario Court of Appeal and in 2004, she became the first Jewish woman to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada. One of the nation’s foremost experts on human rights law, Abella sat on the Ontario Human Rights Commission for five years and was awarded the International Justice Prize from the Peter Gruber Foundation, among many other honours. She currently holds more than 30 honorary doctorates. She is married to historian Irving Abella (BA 1963 UC), whom she met while at U of T.