Thurston Twigg-Smith (August 17, 1921 – July 16, 2016) was an American businessman and philanthropist from Hawaii.

Biography

Twigg-Smith was a fifth-generation descendant of missionary settlers in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. He was born in 1921 in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, Hawaii, the son of

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and Margaret Carter Twigg-Smith (née Thurston) (1895–1976). He was the great-great-grandson of two missionary couples:

Asa Asa may refer to: People and fictional characters * Asa (given name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters so named * Asa people, an ethnic group based in Tanzania * Aṣa, Nigerian-French singer, songwriter, and reco ...

and

Lucy Goodale Thurston Lucy Goodale Thurston (October 29, 1795October 13, 1876) was a Protestant missionary and author. She was the wife of Asa Thurston and was one of the first American Christian missionaries to Hawaii. She is noted for her letters documenting her ...

and

Lorrin Andrews Lorrin Andrews (April 29, 1795 – September 29, 1868) was an early American missionary to Hawaii and a judge. He opened the first post-secondary school for Hawaiians called Lahainaluna Seminary, prepared a Hawaiian dictionary and several works ...

and his wife Mary Ann Wilson. He was the grandson of an American lawyer, politician, and businessman born and raised in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi,

Lorrin A. Thurston Lorrin Andrews Thurston (July 31, 1858 – May 11, 1931) was a Hawaiian citizen lawyer, politician, and businessman. Thurston played a prominent role in the revolution that overthrew the Hawaiian Kingdom to replace Queen Liliuokalani with ...

, who played a key role in the 1893

overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom The Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown in a ''coup d'état'' against Queen Liliʻuokalani that took place on January 17, 1893, on the island of Oahu. The coup was led by the Committee of Safety, composed of seven foreign residents (five Americ ...

. His father William was an artist and a musician, who supported his family as an illustrator at the

Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association The Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association (HSPA) was an unincorporated, voluntary organization of sugarcane plantation owners in the Hawaiian Islands. It began as the Planters' Labor and Supply Company in 1882, later transforming into the HSPA in ...

. Twigg-Smith grew up in the lower Nuuanu Valley on Bates Street, in a house his father built. At the time, L.A. Thurston was publisher of the ''

Honolulu Advertiser ''The Honolulu Advertiser'' was a daily newspaper published in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the time publication ceased on June 6, 2010, it was the largest daily newspaper in Hawaii. It published daily with special Sunday and Internet editions. ''The ...

''. Twigg-Smith, his brother David, and sister Barbara attended Lincoln and Kapalama elementary schools. Twigg-Smith went on to

President Theodore Roosevelt High School President Theodore Roosevelt High School is a public, co-educational college preparatory high school in Honolulu, Hawai'i. It is operated by the Hawaii State Department of Education and serves grades nine through 12. Roosevelt High School is ac ...

for junior high and entered

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through 12th grade. The school was established by P ...

in the 10th grade on a scholarship. He graduated from Punahou School in 1938 and earned a mechanical engineering degree from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1942. Twigg-Smith served in the armed forces during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Europe in five campaigns. He attained the rank of captain in the field artillery and was awarded the Bronze Star. Returning to Hawaii in December 1945, he started work at the ''Honolulu Advertiser'' in February 1946. As a major, he started the 483rd Field Artillery battalion in the Hawaii National Guard. He left the guard in 1954 as a lieutenant colonel to concentrate on his duties as managing editor of the newspaper. In 1961 Twigg-Smith took control of the financially ailing paper with the help of outside investors. It became financially profitable. In 1993 it was bought by a regional subsidiary of the

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as severa ...

for $250 million. Twigg-Smith founded the Persis Corporation in 1967, originally named "Asa Corporation (Hawaii)" after his ancestor. Persis Corporation philanthropy includes

Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House The Honolulu Museum of Art Spalding House, formerly The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, was integrated into the Honolulu Museum of Art under this name. It was the only museum in the state of Hawaii devoted exclusively to contemporary art. The Contem ...

(formerly The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu), Friends of Opal Creek, Goodale Farm,

Hawaii Theatre The Hawaii Theatre is a theatre in downtown Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Built in 1922, it is located at 1130 Bethel Street, between Hotel and Pauahi Streets, on the edge of Chinatown. It is listed on the State and National Register of Histor ...

Center, Historic Hawaii Foundation, the Laniakea Foundation, the Lyman House Memorial Museum,

, and

. Thurston Twigg-Smith was a major supporter of non-profit service organizations and of the arts, and in 1997 he was named Hawaii's Philanthropist of the Year. The Yale University website notes:

"Thurston Twigg-Smith has long been an enthusiastic patron of both artists and art museums," says Susan Vogel, the Henry J. Heinz II Director of the gallery. "Since 1991, when he joined the Yale Art Gallery's governing board, he has given us 38 important contemporary works, among them such masterpieces as Diebenkorn's 'Ocean Park No. 24' and
Wayne Thiebaud Wayne Thiebaud ( ; born Morton Wayne Thiebaud; November 15, 1920 – December 25, 2021) was an American painter known for his colorful works depicting commonplace objects—pies, cakes, lipsticks, paint cans, ice cream cones, pastries, and hot d ...
's 'Drink Syrups.' And 80 more are promised. It gives us great pleasure to share with our visitors the spirited and often witty works of art that have charmed this collector's 'Hawaiian Eye.'"

Twigg-Smith and Laila Twigg-Smith purchased Twin Farms, the 300-acre estate in

Barnard, Vermont Barnard is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 992 at the 2020 census. The town has two unincorporated villages: Barnard and East Barnard, along with the hamlets of Newcombsville, Mountain Meadows, and Fort De ...

, which was previously the home of

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1930, he became the first author from the United States (and the first from the America ...

and journalist

Dorothy Thompson Dorothy Celene Thompson (July 9, 1893 – January 30, 1961) was an American journalist and radio broadcaster. She was the first American journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany, in 1934, and was one of the few women news commentators broadc ...

. They used it as a vacation home until turning it into a resort in 1993. Twigg-Smith died on July 16, 2016.

Legacy and honors

*A building was named for him in the Case Middle School at Punahou School.

Opposition to Hawaiian sovereignty

In the 1990s, Twigg-Smith began taking an active role in opposing the

Hawaiian sovereignty movement The Hawaiian sovereignty movement () is a grassroots political and cultural campaign to reestablish an autonomous or independent nation or kingdom of Hawaii out of a desire for sovereignty, self-determination, and self-governance. Some group ...

, writing a book, ''Hawaiian Sovereignty: Do the Facts Matter?'' in 1994 that defended his grandfather's actions. He funded several programs and lawsuits that advocate against a sovereign Hawaiian nation and Hawaiian-based policies in Hawaii.

Family life

In 1942 he married Bessie Blossom Bell (1921-2010) and divorced in 1984. They had five children. He married Laila Roster (née Bergs) (1944-1998), an art collector, in 1984; they divorced in 1994. In 1996 he married Sharon Carter Smith.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Twigg-Smith, Thurston 1921 births 2016 deaths American newspaper publishers (people) 20th-century Hawaii politicians Punahou School alumni Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science alumni