Memorable Manitobans: Cecil Nathan “Nat” Blankstein (1908-1989)

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Cecil Nathan Blankstein
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Architect.

Born at Winnipeg on 15 August 1908, son of Max Zev Blankstein and Laika “Lena” Goldin (1881-1959), brother of Evelyn Blankstein and Morley Blankstein, he graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1929 and worked for Gilbert Parfitt in the Manitoba Department of Public Works until 1931, when he formed a partnership with Lawrence John Green. The firm expanded with the addition of Gordon Leslie Russell and Ralph Carl Ham as partners. It eventually became Green Blankstein Russell and Associates, which designed many Manitoba buildings. He later designed high-density housing projects in Jerusalem, Israel.

He served as President of the Manitoba Association of Architects (1955) and was a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute. He retired from active practice in 1978. On 24 May 1936, he married Claire Diamond (1909-1999) and they had two sons including Arthur M. Blankstein.

He died while visiting Israel on 20 June 1989 and was buried there.

See also:

Historic Sites of Manitoba: Blankstein House (131 Machray Avenue, Winnipeg)

Manitoba Business: Green Blankstein Russell and Associates

Max Blankstein: Architect by Murray Peterson, Winnipeg Architecture Foundation, 2022.

Sources:

Birth registration, Manitoba Vital Statistics.

Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 7 July 1989, page 35.

Cecil Nat Blankstein, Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Canada, 1800-1950.

Winnipeg Building Index, University of Manitoba.

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

Obituary [Claire Blankstein], Winnipeg Free Press, 23 August 1999, page 15.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough and Nathan Kramer.

Page revised: 29 November 2022

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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