Henry Casimir Smart (1878 – 7 July 1951) was an Australian journalist and publicist, working from

Australia House The High Commission of Australia in London is the diplomatic mission of Australia in the United Kingdom. It is located in Australia House, a Grade II listed building. It was Australia's first diplomatic mission and is the longest continuously ...

in London.

History

Smart was educated at

Sydney High School , motto_translation = With Truth and Courage , established = , location = Cleveland Street, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , p ...

and on leaving was employed as a journalist. He fought in the South African wars. Sometime before 1911 he was appointed director of the Publicity Department, Australia House, London. In January 1916 he was contacted by

C. E. W. Bean Charles Edwin Woodrow Bean (18 November 1879 – 30 August 1968), usually identified as C. E. W. Bean, was Australia's official war correspondent, subsequently its official war historian, who wrote six volumes and edited the remaining six of ...

, who was having trouble securing a publisher for his magazine, ''The Anzac Book'', an illustrated history of the Gallipoli campaign from the landing to the evacuation. By 15 February they had signed up with

Cassell and Company Cassell & Co is a British book publishing house, founded in 1848 by John Cassell (1817–1865), which became in the 1890s an international publishing group company. In 1995, Cassell & Co acquired Pinter Publishers. In December 1998, Cassell & ...

and had a final press-ready proof in their hands. There was a problem with war-time supplies of paper, and the first copies rolled of the press in May. Bean and Smart worked closely together thereafter, discussing plans for a national gallery, war memorial, developing the

Australian War Records Section The Australian War Records Section was an Australian military unit of World War I responsible for collecting and preserving records and artifacts relating to Australia's experiences in the war. The section was formed on 16 May 1917 under the comma ...

, (for which Smart selected the artists (

Fred Leist Frederick William Leist (21 August 1873, Sydney – 18 February 1945, Mosman) was an Australian artist. During the First World War, he was an official war artist with Australian forces in Europe.Rutledge, Martha. (1986) "Leist, Frederick Willi ...

and

H. Septimus Power Harold Septimus Power, usually known as H. Septimus Power or H. S. Power (31 December 1877 – 3 January 1951) was a New Zealand-born Australian artist, who was an official war artist for Australia in World War I. Early life Harold Septimus Pow ...

were the first) and supplied their materials), and much else. In 1921 he was appointed Deputy Director of Migration, with offices in Australia House. He was an organiser of the Wembley Exhibition of 1925, for which service he was awarded the

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

. He directed the Australian pavilion at the 1938 Exhibition in Glasgow. He was a supporter of Australian art, and in 1951 garnered support for an exhibition of Australian works to be held in London. He married an English girl, Daisy Hope Foster, and settled in England. Their children included *Hope Foster "Patsy" Smart (10 September 1918 – 6 February 1996), actress, married John Warrington in 1945 * Ralph Foster Smart (27 August 1908 – 12 February 2001), director of ''

Bush Christmas ''Bush Christmas'' (also known as ''Prince and the Great Race'') is a 1983 Australian Christmas drama film and a remake of a 1947 film of the same name, which was based on a novel by Ralph Smart and Mary Cathcart Borer. The film marked actress ...

'' and '' Bitter Springs'' It is not known whether Smart ever paid a return visit to Australia. He died in a nursing home in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

, aged 72.

Recognition

*Smart he was awarded the

in 1926. *Smart Place, in the Canberra suburb of Evatt, was named for him.

Publications

*Smart, H. C. ''Australia in the great war; the story told in pictures'' 1918 *Smart, H. C. (ed.) ''What Australia Has Done'' 1944

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smart, Henry C. 1878 births 1951 deaths People educated at Sydney Boys High School Australian journalists Australian propagandists Australian event planners Australian Commanders of the Order of the British Empire