Ursula Franklin was a brave and brilliant woman. Born in Germany with Jewish ancestry, she survived the Holocaust while many in her family did not. She became a physicist and an engineer at a time when women were not welcome in academics. These experiences shaped Ursula, and she went on to stand up for equality, for peace, and for the protection of the environment and the vulnerable throughout her life.

Ursula Franklin was also a caring mother, as her daughter Monica Franklin shows in the stories here. Ursula was celebrated in her lifetime, receiving both the Order of Canada and the Pearson Peace Medal. Today she has not only a street but a school named after her in Toronto, where children can learn to remain undaunted despite what hardships we face—to pursue our dreams while standing up for what is right—under the shelter of her name.

Monica Franklin is a retired lawyer living in Toronto with her family. She is very pleased that her children were able to know and learn from their inspiring maternal grandmother, Ursula Franklin. It was only later in life that Monica came to learn the extent of her mother's achievements and the obstacles she overcame.

Monica Franklin's profile page

Erin Della Mattia is a writer and editor from Brampton, Ontario. Her fiction has appeared in The Puritan and in the fairy tale anthology Sharper Than Thorns. Although her collection of book ideas grows ever larger, she can usually be found elbow-deep in the brilliant mire of someone else's manuscript.

Erin Della Mattia's profile page

"[Undaunted Ursula Franklin] seeks to publicize the scientific and personal achievements of a woman who survived persecution by the Nazis during the Second World War and came to Canada to pioneer a whole new field of science: archaeometry, a combination of anthropology and archeology.... As the book is co-written by Franklin’s daughter, the reader also gets personal stories of Ursula’s life."

Winnipeg Free Press

"Undaunted Ursula Franklin: Activist, Educator, Scientist was written by Ursula Franklin’s daughter, Monica Franklin, and it’s clear her daughter admires her mother, and so will readers when they learn about the obstacles overcome and triumphs celebrated by Ursula Franklin….Ursula’s story, from challenging and initiating change in her sexist workplace, winning pay equity for women engineers to come, all while raising a family, will inspire readers of all genders to never give up on their dreams." Highly Recommended, 4 stars

CM Reviews of Materials

"This title chronicles Ursula Franklin's vast achievements as a scholar, scientist, and social justice advocate, along with the care that she gave as a mother. This new book is an exploration and celebration of a women who received both the Order of Canada and the Pearson Peace Medal, and who has a Toronto street and school that carry her namesake, and that serve as places where children can remain undaunted and sheltered during the challenges of their daily lives."

Open Book

"As told lovingly by her daughter Monica Franklin, Undaunted Ursula Franklin chronicles the life of Holocaust survivor, physicist and engineer, educator, and champion of equality, peace, and the vulnerable, Ursula Franklin. An extraordinary woman who exemplifies courage in the face of unimaginable hardship."

Quill and Quire