David Nichol SmithFBA (16 September 1875 – 18 January 1962) was a Scottish literary scholar andMerton Professor of English Literature atOxford University.
Smith was born in Edinburgh, educated atGeorge Watson's College, theUniversity of Edinburgh and Paris'Sorbonne. He was an editor of textbooks before taking a position as an English professor atArmstrong College in 1904 andreader in English atOxford University, where he lived until his death. In 1921 he was electedfellow ofMerton College, where he was Merton Professor of English from 1929 to 1946.[1] In 1937, he gave the Alexander Lectures in Toronto, Canada, and arranged travel through the United States, visiting his pupils who were strategically placed across the whole continent. He followed their careers with the greatest interest, and always welcomed them back to his study in 20Merton Street, where one was sometimes surprised to learn the latest news of what was happening in universities in California or Australia.[2]
In his retirement he travelled widely and he was Professor of English at Adelaide University in 1950–51.[1]
