In the early 80s, Andrew served for 3 years as the Social Sciences Program Officer in Cairo – a time seen as a high point both in IDRC’s understanding of the complexities of the Arab region’s environment and in the Centre’s ability to work effectively in that environment.
Beyond his professional contribution to the Centre’s work, Andrew, as a person, was the epitome of elegance, charm, and energy, bringing to all he did an insatiable curiosity to understand the world around him and then to try to make it better. Apart from his renowned academic expertise in Arabic economic history and his wide-ranging knowledge of the region’s culture and its arts, he was an inveterate reader, collector, and traveller. The last was especially true in retirement where, in his 80s, he tacked on trips to Sri Lanka, Tahiti, Mongolia etc. to his annual pilgrimages to Bali, Bangkok, and Pattaya. It was on his last trip to Pattaya, at about the age of 90, when he showed that his aesthetic standards were intact – showing acute distress when the 4-star hotel’s house wine came from a box!
Andrew’s special combination of wit, flair, profound intelligence, and a sheer love for life will be difficult to find again.
Sheldon Schaefer
See also the tribute: Seeds of Time: In Memory of Professor Emeritus Andrew Murray Watson by Trinity College, The University of Toronto.