Sydney Campbell Smith (25 February 1925 – 13 July 2015), generally known as Campbell Smith, was a New Zealand playwright, poet, wood engraver and arts administrator.

Biography

Born in

Masterton Masterton ( mi, Whakaoriori), a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand, operates as the seat of the Masterton District (a territorial authority or local-government district). It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a r ...

in 1925, Smith was the son of Annie and Syd Smith, a signwriter. He served a trade apprenticeship, and then studied at Canterbury University College, graduating with a Diploma of Fine Arts in 1952, and then spent a year at Auckland Teachers' Training College. He married Esme Dunbar in 1953. After a period in London, the couple returned to New Zealand in 1956. Smith taught at Waihi College and then, from 1961,

Fairfield College Fairfield College is a co-educational state secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand. Located in the north-east suburb of Fairfield, it was founded in 1957. Built on the site of a former dairy farm which is leased from Tainui iwi, it is one o ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. Smith was a wood engraver and printmaker, focusing on the life and culture of New Zealand. Subjects including rugby, farming,

gum digging Kauri gum is resin from kauri trees (''Agathis australis''), which historically had several important industrial uses. It can also be used to make crafts such as jewellery. Kauri forests once covered much of the North Island of New Zealand, bef ...

and

Māori culture Māori culture () is the customs, cultural practices, and beliefs of the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand. It originated from, and is still part of, Polynesians, Eastern Polynesian culture. Māori culture forms a distinctive part of Cul ...

. His work is held in public collections, including those of the

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

and

Waikato Museum Waikato Museum ( mi, Te Whare Taonga o Waikato) is a regional museum located in Hamilton, New Zealand. The museum manages ArtsPost, a shop and gallery space for New Zealand art and design. Both are managed by the Hamilton City Council. Outside ...

. As a playwright, Smith wrote 24 plays, many of which are about notable New Zealanders, including ''Through Dark Clouds Shining'' about

Ettie Rout Ettie Annie Rout (24 February 1877 – 17 September 1936) was a Tasmanian-born New Zealander whose work among servicemen in Paris and the Somme during World War I made her a war hero among the French, yet through the same events she became ''p ...

; ''Mabel'', based on the life of

Mabel Howard Mabel Bowden Howard (18 April 1894 – 23 June 1972) was a well-known New Zealand trade unionist and politician. She was the first woman secretary of a predominantly male union (the Canterbury General Labourers' Union). She was a Member of Parl ...

; ''Frances Hodgkins: Painter'' about

Frances Hodgkins Frances Mary Hodgkins (28 April 1869 – 13 May 1947) was a New Zealand painter chiefly of landscape and still life, and for a short period was a designer of textiles. She was born and raised in New Zealand, but spent most of her working l ...

; and ''This Green Land: Margot Philips - Painter'', based on the life of Margot Philips. He was also a poet, and penned ''The Journey'', a nativity story in verse, written in 1958 but not published until 2010, and which is illustrated with his own wood engravings. Smith served as president of the New Zealand Federation of Film Societies between 1965 and 1966, president of the Waikato Society of Arts from 1965 to 1967 and director of the Waikato Art Gallery from 1971. Smith was made a life member of the Waikato Society of Arts in 1994. In the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed a

Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...

, for services to the arts, and in 2012 he was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

by the

University of Waikato The University of Waikato ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato), is a Public university, public research university in Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton, New Zealand established in 1964. An additional campus is located in Tauranga. The university perfo ...

. He died at Tairua on 13 July 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Campbell 1925 births 2015 deaths People from Masterton University of Canterbury alumni New Zealand schoolteachers Directors of museums in New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights New Zealand male poets New Zealand engravers Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit University of Waikato alumni 20th-century New Zealand poets 20th-century New Zealand male writers New Zealand male dramatists and playwrights Arts administrators