Sydney Campbell Smith (25 February 1925 – 13 July 2015), generally known as Campbell Smith, was a New Zealand playwright, poet, wood engraver and arts administrator.

Biography

Born in

Masterton Masterton () is a large town in the Wellington Region, Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand that operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa ...

in 1925, Smith was the son of Annie and Syd Smith, a signwriter. He served a trade apprenticeship, and then studied at

Canterbury University College The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

, graduating with a Diploma of Fine Arts in 1952, and then spent a year at Auckland Teachers' Training College. He married Esme Dunbar in 1953. After a period in London, the couple returned to New Zealand in 1956. Smith taught at

Waihi College Waihi College is a co-educational secondary school located in the North Island town of Waihi in New Zealand. The school motto reads in Latin 'Lex Nostra Fides' translated into English as 'Our Faith Is The Law'. It was established as a District Hi ...

and then, from 1961,

Fairfield College Fairfield College is a co-educational state secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand. Located in the north-east suburb of Fairfield, it was founded in 1957. Built on the site of a former dairy farm which is leased from Tainui iwi, it is one ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

. Smith was a wood engraver and printmaker, focusing on the life and culture of New Zealand. Subjects including rugby, farming, gum digging and

Māori culture Māori culture () is the customs, cultural practices, and beliefs of the Māori people of New Zealand. It originated from, and is still part of, Polynesians, Eastern Polynesian culture. Māori culture forms a distinctive part of Culture of New ...

. His work is held in public collections, including those of the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. Usually known as Te Papa ( Māori for ' the treasure box'), it opened in 1998 after the merging of the National Museum of New Zealand ...

and Waikato Museum. As a playwright, Smith wrote 24 plays, many of which are about notable New Zealanders, including ''Through Dark Clouds Shining'' about Ettie Rout; ''Mabel'', based on the life of

Mabel Howard Mabel Bowden Howard (18 April 1894 – 23 June 1972) was a well-known New Zealand trade unionist and politician. She was the first woman secretary of a predominantly male union (the Canterbury General Labourers' Union). She was a Member of Parl ...

; ''Frances Hodgkins: Painter'' about

Frances Hodgkins Frances Mary Hodgkins (28 April 1869 – 13 May 1947) was a New Zealand painter chiefly of landscape, and for a short period was a designer of textiles. Born in Dunedin, she was educated Dunedin School of Art, then became an art teacher, ...

; and ''This Green Land: Margot Philips - Painter'', based on the life of Margot Philips. He was also a poet, and penned ''The Journey'', a nativity story in verse, written in 1958 but not published until 2010, and which is illustrated with his own wood engravings. Smith served as president of the New Zealand Federation of Film Societies between 1965 and 1966, president of the Waikato Society of Arts from 1965 to 1967 and director of the Waikato Art Gallery from 1971. Smith was made a life member of the Waikato Society of Arts in 1994. In the

2003 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours were announced on 14 June 2003 for the United Kingdom and on 2 June 2003 for New Zealand. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour. United Kingdom Knight Bachelo ...

, he was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ...

, for services to the arts, and in 2012 he was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

by the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato (), established in 1964, is a Public university, public research university located in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university performs research in nume ...

. He died at

Tairua Tairua is a beachside town located on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand in the Thames-Coromandel District. It is located 150 kilometres (93 miles) east of Auckland and 125 kilometers (78 miles) north ...

on 13 July 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Campbell 1925 births 2015 deaths People from Masterton University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand schoolteachers Directors of museums in New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights New Zealand male poets New Zealand engravers Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit University of Waikato alumni 20th-century New Zealand poets 20th-century New Zealand male writers New Zealand male dramatists and playwrights Arts administrators