Nick Auf der Maur
Canadian journalist and politician (1942–1998)

Nikolaus Erik Auf der Maur (April 10, 1942 – April 7, 1998) was a Canadian journalist and politician from Montreal, Quebec. He was the father of rock musician Melissa Auf der Maur.
Early life
Auf der Maur was born in 1942, the youngest of four children of Swiss German immigrants J. Severin and Theresa Auf der Maur.
Journalist
Auf der Maur was on the staff of the Montreal Gazette as a regular columnist. When the Montreal Star ceased operation in 1977, most of the staff of the Gazette moved into the Star building on Saint-Jacques Street. His daughter Melissa Auf der Maur was a frequent subject of his newspaper columns as she was growing up. Melissa once observed that she had been known her whole life as Nick Auf der Maur's daughter, until she became the bassist for Hole, whereupon he became known as Melissa Auf der Maur's father.
Auf der Maur was also a television personality, serving as co-host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Quelque-Show with Les Nirenberg during the early 1970s. He worked for CJAD-AM radio.
Politician
As a young man, Auf der Maur participated in left-wing politics.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Nick Auf der Maur” as canadian journalist and politician (1942–1998). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as canadian journalist and politician (1942–1998). Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3339706. VIAF identifies the subject as 94289779. The Library of Congress control number is n84116122. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1942, 1998 and 1977.
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This entry incorporates text from “Nick Auf der Maur” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.