Who was Adam Smith?
Economist.
Date and Place of Birth:
5th June 1723, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland.
Family Background:
His father, a Customs Officer, died before his
birth.
Education:
Local Burgh school. Glasgow University. Balliol
College, Oxford.
Chronology/Biography of Adam Smith:
1748: Under the
patronage of Lord Kames he delivered public lectures in Edinburgh
on Rhetoric and belles lettres and moral philosophy.
1750: Met the philosopher
David Hume who was to become one of his closest
friends.
1751: Appointed
Professor of Logic at Glasgow University.
1755: Appointed
to the Chair of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow University.
1759: Published
his "Theory of Moral sentiments", based around sympathy
for other people's predicaments.
1764: Resigned Professorships
to become the tutor to the Duke of Buccleugh. Traveled widely in
France with the Duke, where he met D'Alembert, Voltaire and Quesnay,
the Head of the Physiocratic School of French Economists who was
to have a major influence on him.
1767: Elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
1776: Published
his seminal work "Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the
Wealth of Nations." This book was the first to establish political
economy as an independent subject and remains one of the most important
books on economics ever written. Amongst other things it describes
the theory of the "Division of Labour" whereby products
are made quicker and more skillfully if they are made by a team
of specialists rather than one artisan.
1776: Watched the
illness and eventual death of Hume and edited
some of his papers. Went to London and became a member of a club
which was also frequented by Joshua Reynolds,
Samuel Johnson and David
Garrick.
1777: Invited by
William Pitt the Elder, the Guest of Honour
at a public dinner to be seated first, as he said "we are all
your scholars".
1778: Became Commissioner
of Customs at Edinburgh until his death. Went to live with his mother.
1787: Elected Lord
Rector of Glasgow University in succession to his friend Edmund
Burke.
Written Works:
- 1759: “The
Theory of Moral Sentiments”
- 1776: "The
Wealth of Nations”.
Marriage:
Never married.
Places of Interest:
EDINBURGH:
National Library of Scotland
Paving Slab commemoration to Adam Smith
in the Royal Mile, Edinburgh
(© Anthony Blagg)
GLASGOW:
Glasgow University
Date and Place of Death:
17th July 1790, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Age at Death:
67.
Site of Grave:
Canongate Churchyard, Edinburgh, Scotland.
