George Adam Smith

Sir George Adam Smith was a Scottish theologian. He was the Principal of the University of Aberdeen from 1909 to 1935 and a prominent figure in the United Free Church of Scotland. He was born in Calcutta, where his father, George Smith, C.I.E., was the principal of Doveton College, a boys' school in Madras. His mother's name was Janet Colquhoun Smith. By 1870, the family had returned to Scotland and resided at Scagore House in Seafield, Edinburgh. He was educated at Edinburgh's Royal High...See more

Sir George Adam Smith was a Scottish theologian. He was the Principal of the University of Aberdeen from 1909 to 1935 and a prominent figure in the United Free Church of Scotland. He was born in Calcutta, where his father, George Smith, C.I.E., was the principal of Doveton College, a boys' school in Madras. His mother's name was Janet Colquhoun Smith. By 1870, the family had returned to Scotland and resided at Scagore House in Seafield, Edinburgh. He was educated at Edinburgh's Royal High School. He subsequently went on to study Divinity at the University of Edinburgh and New College, graduating with an MA in 1875. In 1892, he was appointed Professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at the Free Church College, Glasgow. He transferred from the Free Church of Scotland to the United Free Church of Scotland in 1900, when it was founded. He was appointed Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Aberdeen in 1909 and served until his retirement in 1935. In 1916, he was chosen as a Fellow of the British Academy and knighted. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Free Church of Scotland from 1916 to 1917. In 1917, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers included John Horne, Cargill Gilston Knott, Ben Peach, and John Sutherland Black. See less