{{Infobox Governor General
| honorific-prefix = <small>The Right Honourable
| name             = John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir<br>
| honorific-suffix = <small>GCMG GCVO CH PC LLD (Harv, ''hc'') LLD (Yale, ''hc'') DD (UoT, ''hc'') BA (''Oxon'')
| image            = btweedsmuir2.jpg
| order            = 15th
| office           = Governor General of Canada
| term_start       = November 2, 1935
| term_end         = February 11, 1940
| monarch          = George V, Edward VIII, George VI
| primeminister    = R. B. Bennett, William Lyon Mackenzie King
| predecessor      = Verve Ponsonby, Earl of Bessborough
| successor        = Alexander Cambridge, Earl of Athlone
| birth_date       = 
| birth_place      = Perth, Scotland
| death_date       = 
| death_place      = Montreal, Quebec
| spouse           = Susan Buchan
| profession       = Author
| religion         = Presbyterian
|}}

'''John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir''' <small>GCMG GCVO CH PC</small> (British Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada. He is also noted for his horror fiction, including the novel ''Witch Wood'', and the stories ''Skule Skerry'', ''The Wind in the Portico'' and ''The Green Wildebeest''.

== Early life ==
Buchan was the eldest child in a family of four sons and a daughter (the novelist  Free Church of Scotland minister, also named John Buchan (1847–1911), and his wife Helen Jane (1857–1937), daughter of John Masterton, a farmer, of Broughton Green, near Perth, he grew up in Borders, developing a love of walking and the Borders scenery and wildlife that is often featured in his novels. One example is Sir Edward Leithen, the hero of a number of Buchan's books, whose name is borrowed from the Leithen Water, a tributary of the River Tweed. Broughton village is also home to the [http://www.johnbuchansociety.co.uk/jbcentre.htm| John Buchan Centre]and makes up one end of the [http://walking.visitscotland.com/walks/southscotland/213763| John Buchan Way].

After attending Hutchesons' Grammar School, Buchan won a scholarship to the University of Glasgow where he studied Classics and wrote poetry and first became a published author. He then studied Literae Humaniores at Brasenose College, Oxford, winning the Newdigate prize for poetry. He had a genius for friendship which he retained all his life. His friends at Oxford included Hilaire Belloc, Raymond Asquith and Aubrey Herbert.

==Life as an author and politician==
Buchan at first entered into a career in law in 1901, but almost immediately moved into politics, becoming private secretary to British colonial administrator Alfred Milner, who was high commissioner for South Africa,  Governor of Cape Colony and colonial administrator of Transvaal and the Orange Free State&mdash;Buchan gained an acquaintance with the country that was to feature prominently in his writing. On his return to London, he became a partner in a publishing company while he continued to write books. Buchan married Susan Charlotte Grosvenor (1882-1977), cousin of the Duke of Westminster, on July 15 1907. Together they had four children, two of whom would spend most of their lives in Canada.

In 1910, he wrote ''Prester John'', the first of his adventure novels, set in Tory candidate for a Border constituency. During this time Buchan supported Free Trade, woman's suffrage, national insurance and curtailing the power of the House of Lords.<ref>J. P. Parry, 'From the Thirty-Nine Articles to the Thirty-Nine Steps: reflections on the thought of John Buchan' in Michael Bentley (ed.), ''Public and Private Doctrine: Essays in British History presented to Maurice Cowling'' (Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 226.</ref> However he opposed the Liberal reforms of 1905-1915 and what he considered the "class hatred" fostered by demagogic Liberals like David Lloyd George.<ref>Ibid, p. 227.</ref>

During Edmund Ironside. The following year he published a sequel ''Sir Douglas Haig. 

In 1917, he returned to Britain where he became Director of Information under Lord Beaverbrook. After the war he began to write on historical subjects as well as continuing to write thrillers and historical novels.  Buchan's 100 works include nearly 30 novels and seven collections of short stories. He also wrote biographies of Sir Walter Scott, Caesar Augustus, Oliver Cromwell and was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his biography of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, but the most famous of his books were the spy thrillers and it is probably for these that he is now best remembered. The "last Buchan" (as Graham Greene entitled his appreciative review) is ''Sick Heart River'' (American title: ''Mountain Meadow''), 1941, in which a dying protagonist confronts in the Canadian wilderness the questions of the meaning of life.

''The Thirty-Nine Steps'' was filmed (much altered) by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935; later versions followed in 1959 and 1978. 

In the mid-1920s Buchan was living in Scottish Unionist MP for the Scottish Universities. Politically he was of the Unionist-Nationalist Tradition that believed in Scotland's promotion as a nation within the British Empire and once remarked "I believe every Scotsman should be a Scottish nationalist. If it could be proved that a Scottish parliament were desirable...Scotsmen should support it". The effects of depression in Scotland and the subsequent high emigration also led him to say "We do not want to be like the Greeks, powerful and prosperous wherever we settle, but with a dead Greece behind us" (Hansard, November 24 1932). During the early months of the Second World War Buchan read John Morley's ''Life of Gladstone'', which had a profound impact on him. He believed Gladstone had taught people to combat materialism, complacency and authoritarianism; he wrote to H. A. L. Fisher, Stair Gillon and Gilbert Murray that he was "becoming a Gladstonian Liberal".<ref>Ibid, p. 234.</ref> The insightful quotation "It's a great life, if you don't weaken" is also famously attributed to him. Another memorable quote is "No great cause is ever lost or won, The battle must always be renewed, And the creed must always be restated."

Buchan's branch of the Free Church of Scotland joined the Church of Scotland in 1929. He was an active elder of St Columba's Church, London and of the Oxford Presbyterian parish. In 1933–4 he was lord high commissioner to the church's general assembly.

==Life in Canada==

thumb|left|[[William Lyon Mackenzie King delivers an address at the installation of Lord Tweedsmuir as Governor General of Canada, November 2, 1935.]]

In 1935 he became Governor General of Canada and was created '''Baron Tweedsmuir''' of Elsfield in the County of Oxford. Canadian Prime Minister George V insisted on being represented by a peer.

Buchan's writing continued even after he was appointed Governor General.  His later books included novels and histories and his views of Canada. He also wrote an autobiography, ''Memory Hold-the-Door'', while Governor-General.  His wife was a writer, producing many books and plays as Susan Buchan. While pursuing his own writing career, he also promoted the development of a distinctly Canadian culture. In 1936, encouraged by Lady Tweedsmuir, he founded the Governor General's Awards, still some of Canada's premier literary awards.

Lady Tweedsmuir was active in promoting literacy in Canada. She used Rideau Hall as a distribution centre for 40,000 books, which were sent out to readers in remote areas of the west. Her programme was known as the "Lady Tweedsmuir Prairie Library Scheme". Together, Lord and Lady Tweedsmuir established the first proper library at Rideau Hall.

Tweedsmuir took his responsibilities in Canada seriously and tried to make the office of Governor General relevant to the lives of ordinary Canadians. In his own words, "a Governor General is in a unique position for it is his duty to know the whole of Canada and all the various types of her people".

Tweedsmuir travelled throughout Canada, including the Arctic regions. He took every opportunity to speak to Canadians and to encourage them to develop their own distinct identity. He wanted to build national unity by diminishing the religious and linguistic barriers that divided the country. Tweedsmuir was aware of the suffering experienced by many Canadians due to the Depression and often wrote with compassion about their difficulties.

Tweedsmuir was recognized by Glasgow, St. Andrews, McGill, Toronto and Montréal Universities, all of which conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws, and he was made an Honorary Fellow and an Honorary D.C.L. of Oxford.

thumb|right|200px|Lord Tweedsmuir in [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|Native headdress, 1937 (photo by Yousuf Karsh).]]
When King George V died in 1936, the front of Rideau Hall was covered in black crepe and Lord Tweedsmuir cancelled all entertaining during the period of mourning. The new king, King Edward VIII, soon abdicated to marry George VI and Queen Elizabeth travelled throughout Canada in 1939; the regal visit &ndash; the first visit to Canada by a reigning Sovereign &ndash; was extremely popular.

{{Bio
|Nome = John
|Cognome = Buchan
|PostCognomeVirgola = Primo barone di Tweedsmuir
|Sesso = M
|LuogoNascita = 
|GiornoMeseNascita = 26 agosto
|AnnoNascita = 1875
|LuogoMorte = 
|GiornoMeseMorte = 11 febbraio
|AnnoMorte = 1940
|Attività = romanziere
|Epoca = 1900
|Attività2 = politico
|Nazionalità = scozzese 
|PostNazionalità = 
}}

thumb|right|200px|John Buchan
Ricevette numerose onoreficenze, oltre a diventare governatore generale del Canada, tra cui l'ordine di San Michele e san Giorgio e il Royal Victorian Order.

== Vita e opere ==
Nato a Perth, in Scozia e cresciuto a Fife, passò gran parte della sua infanzia nei ''borderland'' scozzesi che amava molto e che lo ispirarono profondamente. Vinse una borsa di studio all'università di Glasgow, dove studiò i classici e si diede all'attività di poeta che gli valse la sua prima pubblicazione. Studiò poi legge al Brasenose College di Oxford, dove vinse il premio ''Newdigate'' per la poesia. Tra i suoi amici all'università ci furono lo scrittore Hilaire Belloc, l'avvocato Raymond Asquith e il diplomatico Aubrey Herbert.

Buchan intraprese la carriera legale nel 1901, ma quasi immediatamente rivolse la propria attenzione alla politica, diventando prima segretario di Alfred Milner, amministratore delle colonie in Sud Africa: la conoscenza di quel paese da parte di Buchan si riflesse in molte delle sue opere. Al suo ritorno a Londra, divenne socio di una casa editrice e si dedicò assiduamente alla scrittura, sposò Susan Charlotte Grosvenor, cugina del duca di Westminster, nel 1907 e con lei ebbe quattro figli. Nel 1910 scrisse ''Prester John'', il suo primo romanzo d'avventura ambientato in Sud Africa. Nel 1911 presentò i primi sintomi di ulcera duodenale, malattia che "trasmise" a molti dei propri personaggi. Entrò inoltre in politica tra i Tory.

Durante la Prima guerra mondiale, scrisse per l'ufficio per la propaganda bellica e fu corrispondente in Francia per il ''Times''. Nel 1915 pubblicò la sua opera più famosa, ''The Thirty-Nine Steps'', un romanzo di spionaggio ambientato poco prima dello scoppio della guerra, in cui fa la sua comparsa Richard Hannay, personaggio basato sul modello di un amico personale, il militare William Edmund Ironside. L'anno successivo pubblicò il seguito, ''Greenmantle'', e nel 1916 si unì all'esercito dove divenne segretario di Sir Douglas Haig.

Nel 1917, al suo ritorno in Inghilterra, divenne subalterno di Max Aitken Beaverbrook. Dopo la guerra iniziò a scrivere romanzi storici e thriller: come scrittore ottenne grandi successi di pubblico e di critica, con i suoi romanzi storici (biografie di Sir Walter Scott, Cesare Augusto, Oliver Cromwell e James Graham) e soprattutto con i suoi romanzi di spionaggio.