David Pollock (3 February 1942 – 12 May 2023) was a British

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

who served as President of the

European Humanist Federation The European Humanist Federation (EHF, ), officially abbreviated as EHF-FHE, was an umbrella of more than 60 humanist and secularist organisations from 25 European countries. Founded in Prague in July 1991, the EHF was based in Brussels, where ...

(EHF). He was also treasurer of the Education and Health Trust Uganda.

Life and career

Pollock was born on 3 February 1942.British Humanist Association, ''BHA wishes David Pollock a Happy 70th Birthday'', 3 February 2012
Accessed 1 March 2022 He became involved in 1961 with the humanist group at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where he studied

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

. He later worked in management in the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

, before becoming Director of

Action on Smoking and Health Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is the name of a number of autonomous pressure groups (charities) in the anglosphere that seek to publicize the risks associated with tobacco smoking and campaign for greater restrictions on use and on cigare ...

between 1991 and 1995, and then of the Continence Foundation, between 1996 and 2001.David Pollock
Accessed 1 March 2022 His research while at ASH led to his writing "Denial & Delay: The Political History of Smoking and Health, 1951–1964" (ASH, 1999 - ). Pollock was a trustee of the

British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent non-religious people in the UK through a mixture of charitable servic ...

(BHA - now Humanists UK) between 1965 and 1975 (chair from 1970 to 1972) and again from 1997 to November 2021. He was a former board member (1979–2018; chair 1989–1991) of the

Rationalist Association The Rationalist Association was a charity in the United Kingdom which published '' New Humanist'' magazine between 1885 and 2025. Since 2025, the Rationalist Press has been the publishing imprint of Humanists UK. The original Rationalist Press ...

, publisher of ''

New Humanist ''New Humanist'' is a quarterly magazine, published by Humanists UK and based in London, that focuses on culture, news, philosophy, and science from a sceptical perspective. History ''New Humanist'' has been in print for years, starting out ...

'' magazine. Pollock was President of the

between 2006 and 2012, where he campaigned for secularism, human rights and equality within European and international institutions. He represented the International Humanist and Ethical Union (now

Humanists International Humanists International (known as the International Humanist and Ethical Union, or IHEU, from 1952–2019) is an international non-governmental organisation championing secularism and human rights, motivated by secular humanist values. Fou ...

) at the Council of Europe from 2012 to 2017. He received the Distinguished Service to Humanism Award from

in 2011. His particular interest was in the law and religion and belief, especially the clash between laws on equality and non-discrimination and the human right to manifest a religion or belief. As EHF President he took part in the consultations of the EU-funded Religare project and wrote a substantial paper for them and contributed a critical review to the book in which their report was published. He gave evidence to the Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life and was one of a group chaired by

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

convened by the

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of e ...

that met in 2014-15 to consider the law on religion and belief and contribute thereby to the EHRC’s 2016 report "Religion or belief: is the law working?" He addressed the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (ICLARS) conference in Oxford in 2016 on whether there is or should be a right to freedom from religion. He has also written on charity law in relation to religion and belief. In 2021 he published privately a collection of his writing under the title "Thinking about Humanism". Pollock died from cancer on 12 May 2023, at the age of 81.

References

External links

Personal webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, David 1942 births 2023 deaths British humanists Secular humanists