Karsh was born in Mardin, a city in the southeast region of Turkey. At the age of 14, he fled with his family to Syria to escape persecution after the Armenian Genocide six years earlier. Two years later, his parents sent Yousuf to live with his uncle George Nakash, a photographer in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Karsh briefly attended school there and assisted in his uncle’s studio. Nakash saw great potential in his nephew and in 1928 arranged for Karsh to apprentice with portrait photographer John Garo in Boston, United States.
Karsh returned to Canada four years later, eager to make his mark. He established a studio on Sparks Street in Ottawa, Ontario, close to Canada’s seat of government. Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King discovered Karsh and arranged introductions with visiting dignitaries for portrait sittings. Karsh's work attracted the attention of varied celebrities, but his place in history was sealed in 1941 when Winston Churchill came to Ottawa and was photographed by him.
Yousuf Karsh portrait of Winston Churchill on cover of Life magazine.The image of Churchill brought Karsh international prominence, and is claimed to be the most reproduced photographic portrait in history. In 1967, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and in 1990 was promoted to Companion.
Of the 100 people most notable people of the century, named by the International Who’s Who [2000], Karsh had photographed 51. Karsh was also the only Canadian to make the list. On his passing in 2002, he was interred in Notre Dame Cemetery in Ottawa.
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