John McCrae

John McCrae (1872–1918) was a Canadian physician, soldier, and poet. Born in Guelph, Ontario, he studied at the University of Toronto and trained in medicine. McCrae served as an artillery officer in the South African War and later joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force during World War I. While stationed near Ypres in 1915, he wrote “In Flanders Fields,” a poem that became one of the most enduring literary responses to the war and helped popularize the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. He later served as a medical officer in France and died in 1918.