Adel Smith (March 9, 1960 – August 22, 2014), born Emilio Smith in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandri ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, was an Italian Muslim known for his radical stances and often accused of

fundamentalism Fundamentalism is a tendency among certain groups and individuals that is characterized by the application of a strict literal interpretation to scriptures, dogmas, or ideologies, along with a strong belief in the importance of distinguish ...

. He was the son of a

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

-born Italian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

of Scottish descent and an Egyptian woman. Smith relocated to Italy as a child and later made a living as a

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

for

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

-speaking tourists in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. Raised as a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, he eventually converted to Islam. He later relocated to

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

, where he worked as a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

, before coming back to Italy and settling in the village of

Ofena Ofena ( Abruzzese: ') is a ''comune'' and town in the Province of L'Aquila in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is located in the natural park known as the "Gran Sasso e Monti della Laga National Park". The comune/village is home to a vast and rich h ...

.ADEL SMITH, chi è l’uomo che vuol togliere il Crocifisso dalle scuole – Attualità di *Arcobaleno*
Adel Smith founded the Union of Italian Muslims ''(Unione dei musulmani d'Italia)'', claiming it to be the most representative Italian Muslim association. Critics of Smith, however, contend that his association numbers very few members. He came to preeminence in the Italian media when he requested that a

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

be removed from Ofena's elementary school, where his son was a student. He was subsequently a regular guest on Italian media venues, where he vehemently attacked Western civilization and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. In 2001, he founded the Italian Islamic Party ''(Partito Islamico Italiano)''. He attracted more media attention by demanding that crucifixes in public places (e.g., schools, hospitals, and government offices) be removed, and throwing a crucifix out of the window of his mother's hospital room after authorities refused to remove it. The

Italian Council of State The Consiglio di Stato ( en, Council of State) is a legal-administrative consultative body that ensures the legality of public administration in Italy. The council has jurisdiction on acts of all administrative authorities, except when these author ...

, with the sentence number 556 of 13 February 2006, upheld the display of the crucifix in government-sponsored spaces. Smith was subsequently charged with defaming the Catholic religion in 2006 and sentenced to eight months in prison. He attempted to sue author

Oriana Fallaci Oriana Fallaci (; 29 June 1929 – 15 September 2006) was an Italian journalist and author. A partisan during World War II, she had a long and successful journalistic career. Fallaci became famous worldwide for her coverage of war and revolution ...

in April 2004, saying that her book ''

The Force of Reason ''The Force of Reason'' (''La forza della ragione'') is a 2004 book by Oriana Fallaci. The book is a follow-up to '' The Rage and the Pride'', aimed at her public critics, accusations of racism, and the lawsuits and death-threats launched against ...

'' was offensive to Islam. Mainstream Italian Muslim organizations expressed discomfort over the fact that Smith was treated by the Italian media as if he had been a genuine Muslim leader. In 2011 he was sentenced to five years in prison for fraud and forgery of checks. Smith died on August 22, 2014, at the age of 54 in L'Aquila.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Adel Italian Muslims Italian former Christians Italian people of Scottish descent Italian people of Egyptian descent Egyptian former Christians Converts to Islam from Roman Catholicism 1960 births Italian–Arabic translators People convicted of fraud Italian fraudsters People convicted of heresy People from Alexandria 2014 deaths 20th-century translators