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George Adam Smith

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Scottish theologian (1856–1942) For other people named George Smith, see George Smith (disambiguation).

SirGeorge Adam SmithFRSE FBA
George Adam Smith in 1895
Principal of the University of Aberdeen
In office
1909–1935
Preceded byReverend John Marshall Lang
Succeeded bySir William Hamilton Fyfe
Personal details
Born(1856-10-19)19 October 1856
Calcutta, India
Died2 March 1942(1942-03-02) (aged 85)
Balerno, Edinburgh, Scotland
Spouse Alice Lillian Buchanan ​ ​(m. 1889)​
Children7, including Alick, Baron Balerno and Janet
EducationRoyal High School, Edinburgh
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
ProfessionTheologian
Note in particular that this George Smith is to be distinguished from George Smith (Assyriologist) (1840–1876) who researched in some overlapping areas.
Queen's Cross Church, Aberdeen
The grave of George Adam Smith, Currie Churchyard

Sir George Adam Smith FRSE, FBA (19 October 1856 – 3 March 1942) was a Scottish theologian. He was the Principal of the University of Aberdeen between 1909 and 1935 and an important figure in the United Free Church of Scotland.

Life

He was born in Calcutta, where his father, George Smith, C.I.E., was then Principal of the Doveton College, a boys' school in Madras. His mother was Janet Colquhoun Smith (née Adam). By 1870 the family had returned to Scotland and were living at Scagore House in Seafield, Edinburgh.

He was educated at Edinburgh in the Royal High School. He then studied Divinity at the University of Edinburgh and the New College, graduating MA in 1875.

After studying for summer semesters as a postgraduate at the University of Tübingen (1876) and the University of Leipzig (1878) and travelling in Egypt and Syria, he was ordained into the Free Church of Scotland in 1882 and served at the Queen's Cross Free Church in Aberdeen.

In 1892 he was appointed Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament subjects in the Free Church College at Glasgow. In 1900 (at its creation) he moved from the Free Church of Scotland to the United Free Church of Scotland.

In 1909, he was appointed Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen, a post he held until his retirement in 1935. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1916, and was knighted in the same year.

He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Free Church of Scotland in 1916-17.

In 1917, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were John Horne, Cargill Gilston Knott, Ben Peach and John Sutherland Black.

He was appointed a Chaplain-in-Ordinary to King George V in 1933, and reappointed by King Edward VIII and King George VI.

From 1924 to 1938 he was Patron of the Seven Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen.

He died at home, "Sweethillocks" in Balerno south-west of Edinburgh on 3 March 1942. He is buried with his wife and children in the north-east corner of Currie Cemetery in south-west Edinburgh.

Family

In 1889 he married Alice Lillian Buchanan (1866-1949), daughter of Sir George Buchanan MD FRS. They had seven children:

Works

Bibliography

  • Iain D. Campbell, Fixing the Indemnity: The Life and Work of Sir George Adam Smith (1856-1942) (Carlyle, Paternoster Press, 2004) (Paternoster Theological Monographs - PTM).

References

  1. ^ Chisholm 1911.
  2. "George SMITH".
  3. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  4. Bruce, Alexander Balmain (1896). "The Rev. George Adam Smith, D.D., Professor of Hebrew in the Free Church College, Glasgow, Scotland". The Biblical World. 8 (1): 1–7. doi:10.1086/471902. JSTOR 3140304. S2CID 144129947.
  5. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  6. "No. 29483". The London Gazette. 22 February 1916. pp. 1946–1947.
  7. These facts of his life are largely drawn from S.A. Cook,'George Adam Smith 1856-1942', Proceedings of the British Academy, vol.xxviii (London: Oxford University Press).
  8. Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 (PDF). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  9. "No. 33983". The London Gazette. 3 October 1933. p. 6351.
  10. "No. 34306". The London Gazette. 20 July 1936. p. 4665.
  11. "No. 34376". The London Gazette. 2 March 1937. p. 1407.
  12. "Patrons". Seven Incorporated Trades of Aberdeen.
  13. "Rev. George Adam Smith".

External links

Academic offices
Preceded byReverend John Marshall Lang Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen
1909—1935 		Succeeded bySir William Hamilton Fyfe
Principals of the University of Aberdeen
King's College,
Aberdeen
Marischal College,
Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
Category
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