Adam Smith

Smith never married in his life. He was very close to his mother. His mother died six years before his own death.

Smith died after a painful illness and was buried in Canongate Kirkyard.

On his death bed, he was believed to have regretted that he had not achieved enough. As a last wish he wanted his personal papers to be destroyed after his death.

Smith was born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. His namesake father was by profession an advocate, solicitor and prosecutor. He also served as a Comptroller for a brief period. Unfortunately, Smith lost his dad two months after his birth.

Loss of his father brought Smith very close to his mother Margaret Douglas, who was the daughter of the landed Robert Douglas of Strathedry.

Smith’s birth date is often taken as the day on which he was baptized. The reason behind this is not very clear. It is also believed that he was abducted by some gypsies when he was a kid and later released.

Smith’s mother had a great influence on his education. He went to the best schools of Scotland –Burgh School of Kirkcaldy where he learnt writing, mathematics and history.

He later studied Philosophy from University of Glasgow when he turned fourteen. It was here Smith got to hone his skills in free speech. He also attended Balliol College at Oxford to study European literature. At Oxford he became the first student to benefit from the scholarship offered by fellow Scot, John Snell.

Soon after Smith finished graduation, a series of Public Lectures delivered by him at Edinburgh led him to collaborate with philosopher David Hume during the Scottish Enlightenment in 1750. Smith shared a very close intellectual bond with Hume and they wrote on politics, history, religion and economics.

Smith became a Professor of Moral Philosophy at Glasgow in 1751. He wrote his Classic ‘Theory of Moral Sentiments’ around this time.

He was elected as a member of Philosophical Society of Edinburgh in 1752. Smith spent the next thirteen years as an academic which he recalled as his best years.

In 1763, Smith resigned from his professorship to tutor Henry Scott’s step son. Henry Scott was introduced to Smith through David Hume.

He was elected fellow of the Royal Society of London and was elected as a member of the Literary Club in 1775. The ‘Wealth of Nations’ was published the next year and it became an instant success.

During Smith’s Professorship at Glasgow, he wrote and published one of his Classics ‘The Theory of Moral Sentiments’. He wrote this in 1759. The book laid emphasis on how mutual sympathy was the basis of moral sentiments.

His best-seller ‘The ‘Wealth of Nations’ which was published in 1776 was a powerful and very influential book. This book central theme lay on the role of self-interest.