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Gershon Canaan
Image courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.
Image courtesy of the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.

Gershon Canaan

German-American, 1917 - 2002
Architect
Honorary Consul for the Federal Republic of Germany (1962-1987)
Founding president of the Dallas Goethe Center (1965-1971)

Gershon Canaan, a Jewish immigrant from Germany, was a Dallas architect who helped rebuild positive connections between Germany and the United States following WWII. Canaan was the Honorary Consul for the Federal Republic of Germany from 1962 to 1987 and the founding president of the Dallas Goethe Center from 1965 to 1971. Due to his efforts, Texas German day became official in 1963, and a national German-American Day was established by President Ronald Reagan in 1983.