About Adam Smith

1. BIOGRAPHY OF:
ADAM SMITH

2. Adam Smith born in 1723, in the town of Kirkcaldy, a
trading center in Scotland.
His mother was Margaret Douglas. His father died six
months before Adam Smith was born. He was baptized
on June 5, 1723 in Kirkcaldy.

3. Adam Smith is often described as the "founding
father of economics". Adam Smith developed most of
what is now considered standard theory about
markets.
Two books, Theory of Moral Sentiments and An
Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of
Nations are of great importance to economics.

4. Adam Smith started studying in moral philosophy at
Glasgow University at the age of fourteen in 1737 and
was greatly influenced by a famous philosophy teacher
named Francis Hutcheson. Here, Smith developed his
passion for liberty, reason, and free speech. He
graduated 1740 and won a scholarship which facilitated
his heading south over several days on horseback to
study at to study at Oxford University.

5. Smith was not happy during his time at Oxford.
Oxford officials once discovered him read a David Hume
book, (David Hume is guilty of promoting an "atheistic"
philosophy). They confiscated his book and punished him
severely for reading it.
Near the end of his time at Oxford, Smith began suffering from
shaking fits, probably the symptoms of a nervous
breakdown. He left Oxford University in 1746, before his
scholarship ended.

6. Adam began started his career lecturing at Edinburgh
in English and the philosophy of law.
Later, Adam started lecturing at the University of
Glasgow, where he taught logic, moral philosophy,
literature, and public policy. It was this lecturing that
provided the basis for much of Smith's later work.
After the publication of his books, Adam became so
popular that many wealthy students left their
schools in other countries to enroll at Glasgow to
learn under Smith.

7. Later Adam resigned from his professorship to take a
tutoring position, tutoring Henry Scott, and he attempted
to return the fees he had collected from his students
because he resigned in the middle of the term, but his
students refused.

8. In 1763, Adam started tutoring Henry Scott, the young
Duke of Buccleuch, teaching him about a variety of
subjects while touring Europe. He was paid £600 per
year (plus expenses); about twice his former income as a
teacher.
In Paris, Smith met many great intellectual leaders of the
time who invariably had an effect on his future works.

9. In 1766, Henry Scott's younger brother died in Paris, and
Adam's tour as a tutor ended. Smith returned home that
year to Kirkcaldy, and he devoted much the next ten
years to his magnum opus.
Adam then spent the next ten years writing The Wealth of
Nations and published it in 1776. It was an instant
success, selling out its first edition in only six months.

10. Adam died in the northern wing of Panmure House in
Edinburgh on 17 July 1790, at the age of 67. He
experienced a painful illness and was buried in the
Canongate Kirkyard. On his death bed, Adam was
disappointed that he had not achieved more.

11. Adam left behind many notes and some unpublished
material. His co-workers and friends, Joseph Black and
James Hutton were given instructions to destroy anything
that was not fit for publication after his death.