Gerard Corley Smith
Encyclopedia
Gerard Thomas Corley Smith (July 30, 1909 – October 7, 1997), or Corley as he was known, is remembered chiefly for his work in protecting the unique environment of the Galápagos Islands
and his support for the Charles Darwin Foundation
, established in 1959.
However, Corley Smith had a long and distinguished career in Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service
.
. He was educated at Bolton School
and attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge
, where he graduated with a double first in modern languages.
, Oran
, Detroit, La Paz
and Milan
. During World War II
he was in St Louis and New York
, and was engaged in the effort to persuade Americans that Britain
's lonely resistance to the Nazis was a grim battle for freedom that the United States
should recognise to be in their interest to join.
The possibility of a full diplomatic career only opened up to Corley Smith and to others with no private means after the Eden
reforms of the 1940s. He was appointed as labour attaché in Brussels
in 1945, and caught the attention of Ernest Bevin
, foreign secretary in the post-war Labour government. Bevin, keen to encourage closer ties with European trade unions, saw Corley Smith as well suited to work in this new area. He was posted to UN headquarters in 1949 as counsellor at the Economic and Social Council
of the United Nations
. As Britain's EcoSoc representative, Corley Smith was chosen to present the case against the Soviet forced labour camps, or gulag
s, the existence of which was only then beginning to be revealed to the world. It was a task that predictably earned him the anger and disapproval of the Eastern bloc
delegations and their press. Much of his time in New York was taken up in drafting the UN Charter on Employment following the adoption of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(Art.23), which stated inter alia
: "Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment." Member states were unable to agree on the wording or the substance of the draft charter, and it was not adopted by the UN.
Corley Smith returned to Europe
in 1952 and was awarded the CMG
. He spent two years in Paris and five in Madrid
before being appointed British ambassador to Haiti
, which was ruled by François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier
. With little he could do diplomatically in Haiti where, according to Graham Greene
, "it was impossible to deepen the night", Corley Smith was able to develop his hobby of bird-watching. Eventually, he was chosen as the spokesman for a number of foreign embassies to protest to Duvalier about the reign of terror and extortion by the Tonton Macoute
, Duvalier's private mafia
. The result was immediate denunciation as an "impertinent British colonialist", and a demand for his recall. Corley Smith regarded being thrown out of Haiti as an honour, and certainly a better fate than was usually meted out to critics of Duvalier's regime. Years later, he said: "I find it difficult to conceive of any solution to Haiti's problems. The country has been independent for two centuries now and it has never had a good leader."
His final posting was as ambassador to Ecuador
, where he found many opportunities for ornithology
in a country with a wide variety of climates from tropical Amazonia to the high Andes
.
led him to become friends with Professor Jean Dorst
, a French ornithologist who was also president of the newly formed Charles Darwin Foundation
(CDF) for the Galápagos Islands, which Corley Smith went to visit. On the Royal Yacht Britannia he visited the islands again in 1964 with the Duke of Edinburgh
, who later became patron of the foundation.
Corley Smith worked to establish a national park
to protect the Galápagos environment under Ecuadorean control, and organised a British-financed study to recommend how the needs of conservation
should be reconciled with the development of tourism
to help the economy of the islands. Corley Smith left Ecuador in 1967, and the following year the new National Parks Service of Ecuador came into existence. The newly retired ambassador was lured to join the CDF's executive council. The first council meeting he attended was in England, at Down House
, Darwin's
former home, where members saw in the tall, silver-haired and distinguished-looking former diplomat a remarkable likeness to the portrait there of T. H. Huxley. In 1972, when Sir Thomas Barlow stepped down, Corley Smith took on the role of secretary-general of the foundation. It was a great coup for the ever-persuasive Jean Dorst. While the Charles Darwin Research Station
(CDRS) on the islands was managed by a resident director, all the CDF administration and other international work - including the production of a bi-annual bulletin Noticias de Galápagos - were carried out from Corley Smith's home, Greensted Hall
, in Essex
.
He is credited with successfully promoting and maintaining a good working relationship between the national government and the international scientific body, which was seen by many in Ecuador as encroaching on their territory. "Most crucially," as Professor Dorst later wrote, "he perceived and understood the way the foundation had to meet and adapt to changing conditions in Ecuador." On handing over the role in 1984, Corley Smith was awarded the Order of Merit by the Ecuadorean government, and continued to visit the Galápagos often - eight times in the next 12 years - and to travel widely round the world.
The extensive library at the CDRS, which holds the most complete collection of material on Galápagos anywhere in the world, is dedicated to the memory of Corley Smith.
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
and his support for the Charles Darwin Foundation
Charles Darwin Foundation
The Charles Darwin Foundation was founded in 1959, under the auspices of UNESCO and the World Conservation Union. The Foundation is dedicated to the conservation of the Galapagos Islands ecosystems. The Charles Darwin Research Station serves as headquarters for The Foundation, and is used to...
, established in 1959.
However, Corley Smith had a long and distinguished career in Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service
Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service
Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service is the diplomatic service of the United Kingdom, dealing with foreign affairs, as opposed to the Home Civil Service, which deals with domestic affairs...
.
Education
The son of a schoolmaster, Corley Smith was brought up in his native LancashireLancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
. He was educated at Bolton School
Bolton School
Bolton School is an independent day school in Bolton, in the North-West of England. It comprises a co-educational Nursery and Infant School and single sex Junior and Senior Schools . With almost 2,400 pupils it is one of the largest independent day schools in the country.-History:Bolton School...
and attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
, where he graduated with a double first in modern languages.
Diplomat
Corley Smith joined the consular service in 1931 and was posted to ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Oran
Oran
Oran is a major city on the northwestern Mediterranean coast of Algeria, and the second largest city of the country.It is the capital of the Oran Province . The city has a population of 759,645 , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately 1,500,000, making it the second largest...
, Detroit, La Paz
La Paz
Nuestra Señora de La Paz is the administrative capital of Bolivia, as well as the departmental capital of the La Paz Department, and the second largest city in the country after Santa Cruz de la Sierra...
and Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he was in St Louis and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and was engaged in the effort to persuade Americans that Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's lonely resistance to the Nazis was a grim battle for freedom that the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
should recognise to be in their interest to join.
The possibility of a full diplomatic career only opened up to Corley Smith and to others with no private means after the Eden
Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957...
reforms of the 1940s. He was appointed as labour attaché in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
in 1945, and caught the attention of Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin was a British trade union leader and Labour politician. He served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1945, as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government.-Early...
, foreign secretary in the post-war Labour government. Bevin, keen to encourage closer ties with European trade unions, saw Corley Smith as well suited to work in this new area. He was posted to UN headquarters in 1949 as counsellor at the Economic and Social Council
United Nations Economic and Social Council
The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and it is responsible for the coordination of the economic, social and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions...
of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
. As Britain's EcoSoc representative, Corley Smith was chosen to present the case against the Soviet forced labour camps, or gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
s, the existence of which was only then beginning to be revealed to the world. It was a task that predictably earned him the anger and disapproval of the Eastern bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
delegations and their press. Much of his time in New York was taken up in drafting the UN Charter on Employment following the adoption of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
(Art.23), which stated inter alia
Inter Alia
-Track listing:# Inter Alia# Outfox'd # Righteous Badass # The Altogether feat. Bix, Apt, UNIVERSE ARM and Cal# The Day-to-Daily# Trouble Brewing # The Prestidigitator# The Force...
: "Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment." Member states were unable to agree on the wording or the substance of the draft charter, and it was not adopted by the UN.
Corley Smith returned to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
in 1952 and was awarded the CMG
Order of St Michael and St George
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....
. He spent two years in Paris and five in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
before being appointed British ambassador to Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, which was ruled by François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier
François Duvalier
François Duvalier was the President of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. Duvalier first won acclaim in fighting diseases, earning him the nickname "Papa Doc" . He opposed a military coup d'état in 1950, and was elected President in 1957 on a populist and black nationalist platform...
. With little he could do diplomatically in Haiti where, according to Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
, "it was impossible to deepen the night", Corley Smith was able to develop his hobby of bird-watching. Eventually, he was chosen as the spokesman for a number of foreign embassies to protest to Duvalier about the reign of terror and extortion by the Tonton Macoute
Tonton Macoute
Tonton Macoutes was a Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by President François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier. In 1970, the militia was officially renamed the Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale .Haitians called this force the “Tonton Macoutes,” after the Haitian Creole mythological...
, Duvalier's private mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
. The result was immediate denunciation as an "impertinent British colonialist", and a demand for his recall. Corley Smith regarded being thrown out of Haiti as an honour, and certainly a better fate than was usually meted out to critics of Duvalier's regime. Years later, he said: "I find it difficult to conceive of any solution to Haiti's problems. The country has been independent for two centuries now and it has never had a good leader."
His final posting was as ambassador to Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, where he found many opportunities for ornithology
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
in a country with a wide variety of climates from tropical Amazonia to the high Andes
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
.
Evolution
In Ecuador, Corley Smith's expertise on high altitude humming-birds found on the CotopaxiCotopaxi
Cotopaxi is a stratovolcano in the Andes Mountains, located about south of Quito, Ecuador, South America. It is the second highest summit in the country, reaching a height of...
led him to become friends with Professor Jean Dorst
Jean Dorst
Professor Dr Jean Dorst was a French ornithologist.Dorst was born at Mulhouse and studied biology and paleontology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Paris. In 1947 he joined the staff of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle...
, a French ornithologist who was also president of the newly formed Charles Darwin Foundation
Charles Darwin Foundation
The Charles Darwin Foundation was founded in 1959, under the auspices of UNESCO and the World Conservation Union. The Foundation is dedicated to the conservation of the Galapagos Islands ecosystems. The Charles Darwin Research Station serves as headquarters for The Foundation, and is used to...
(CDF) for the Galápagos Islands, which Corley Smith went to visit. On the Royal Yacht Britannia he visited the islands again in 1964 with the Duke of Edinburgh
Duke of Edinburgh
The Duke of Edinburgh is a British royal title, named after the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, which has been conferred upon members of the British royal family only four times times since its creation in 1726...
, who later became patron of the foundation.
Corley Smith worked to establish a national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
to protect the Galápagos environment under Ecuadorean control, and organised a British-financed study to recommend how the needs of conservation
Habitat conservation
Habitat conservation is a land management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore, habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range...
should be reconciled with the development of tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
to help the economy of the islands. Corley Smith left Ecuador in 1967, and the following year the new National Parks Service of Ecuador came into existence. The newly retired ambassador was lured to join the CDF's executive council. The first council meeting he attended was in England, at Down House
Down House
Down House is the former home of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theories of evolution by natural selection which he had conceived in London before moving to Downe....
, Darwin's
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
former home, where members saw in the tall, silver-haired and distinguished-looking former diplomat a remarkable likeness to the portrait there of T. H. Huxley. In 1972, when Sir Thomas Barlow stepped down, Corley Smith took on the role of secretary-general of the foundation. It was a great coup for the ever-persuasive Jean Dorst. While the Charles Darwin Research Station
Charles Darwin Research Station
The Charles Darwin Research Station is a biological research station operated by the Charles Darwin Foundation. It is located in Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz Island in the Galapagos Islands, with satellite offices on Isabela and San Cristóbal islands.- Background :In Puerto Ayora, Santa Cruz Island,...
(CDRS) on the islands was managed by a resident director, all the CDF administration and other international work - including the production of a bi-annual bulletin Noticias de Galápagos - were carried out from Corley Smith's home, Greensted Hall
Greensted
Greensted-juxta-Ongar is a village in Essex, England, strung out along the Greensted Road approximately one mile to the west of Chipping Ongar.-Naming:...
, in Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
.
He is credited with successfully promoting and maintaining a good working relationship between the national government and the international scientific body, which was seen by many in Ecuador as encroaching on their territory. "Most crucially," as Professor Dorst later wrote, "he perceived and understood the way the foundation had to meet and adapt to changing conditions in Ecuador." On handing over the role in 1984, Corley Smith was awarded the Order of Merit by the Ecuadorean government, and continued to visit the Galápagos often - eight times in the next 12 years - and to travel widely round the world.
The extensive library at the CDRS, which holds the most complete collection of material on Galápagos anywhere in the world, is dedicated to the memory of Corley Smith.
Family
Corley Smith was predeceased by his wife, Joan Haggard, whom he married in 1937. Upon his death in 1997, Corley Smith was survived by a son and three daughters.External links
- Obituary of Gerard Corley Smith reproduced by the Charles Darwin FoundationCharles Darwin FoundationThe Charles Darwin Foundation was founded in 1959, under the auspices of UNESCO and the World Conservation Union. The Foundation is dedicated to the conservation of the Galapagos Islands ecosystems. The Charles Darwin Research Station serves as headquarters for The Foundation, and is used to...
with permission of The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
(November 3, 1997).