R.D. Smith
Encyclopedia
Reginald Donald Smith (31 July 1914–3 May 1985), was a teacher and lecturer
, BBC
radio producer
, possible communist spy and model for the character of Guy Pringle in the novel sequence Fortunes of War written by his wife, Olivia Manning
.
, the son of a toolmaker, William Smith and his wife Annie Griffiths, who supplemented the family income by charring. Reggie, as he was generally known, attended King Edward VI Grammar School, Aston
; the family were frequently short of money since his father was often ill; in order to save expense, Smith never told his parents that he needed glasses for his very short sight. Having read David Copperfield
at the age of 12 he determined that he wanted to become "a teacher to share the wonder of such books with others." Smith went on to Birmingham University, from which he graduated in 1937 with a BA degree with honours in English literature. Smith had a great love of poetry and a phenomenal memory for poems, prose and plays. While at university he founded the Birmingham Socialist Society and met poet Louis MacNeice
at the time an assistant lecturer in classics
. He became a lifelong friend.
According to MI5
files, Smith was recruited as a Soviet spy by the art historian Anthony Blunt
during a visit to Cambridge
in 1938. He commented later, "I think I presented Anthony Blunt with a conundrum: was I rough trade or was I a gent slumming? I think that it went though his mind that I might make good spy material." Smith was unusual material for a spy; ebullient and friendly, he made no secret of his communist beliefs, and friends reported him unable to keep secrets. His flamboyant character and lifestyle was to cause some concern among other spies, who according to MI5
critiqued his behaviour as not showing "the stability or competence that should distinguish a party member".
, and was posted as lecturer in English in Bucharest
, Romania
in 1938. He returned on leave to the UK in the summer of 1939, and was introduced to the novelist Olivia Manning by the writer Walter Allen
. In preparation for the meeting, Smith had read her work. He admired it greatly, and considered it showed "signs of genius"; he was also immediately smitten with its author. A few weeks later, on 18 August 1939 the pair were married at Marylebone registry office, with McNeice and the poet Stevie Smith
as witnesses. Unconventional as ever, the bridegroom failed to produce a wedding ring for the ceremony. Throughout their marriage, Smith strongly supported his wife's writing, encouraging and sustaining her during Manning's frequent despondency and discouragement about her success.
A few days later, Smith and his bride were recalled to Romania, arriving just as Britain declared War on Germany. Smith was exempt from military service due to his work with the British Council, though it is likely that his poor eyesight would have meant failing the required medical. During their 13 months in Romania, Smith and Manning witnessed the approaching war, including the abdication of King Carol
and the rise of Fascism
. The couple's experiences were to form the basis of the first two novels of the Fortunes of War, The Great Fortune and The Spoilt City. Smith appears in the novel as the central character of Guy Pringle, a large, extroverted, and gregarious Communist who pays little attention to his new wife while lavishing attention and time on everybody else. The Smiths participated regularly in the café society, but Manning often went home early, leaving her new husband to expound earnestly but naively on the merits of communism, including how much better Jews would be well treated in a Russian-occupied Romania, and excusing the Soviet pact with Hitler, and the Red Army
's invasion
of Finland
. Just as in the novels, Smith's name was broadcast by the Gestapo
as that of a spy.
In October 1940, the couple escaped the rising fascism, fleeing to Athens
, Greece. Typically when choosing what to pack Smith chose his books rather than work suits, which he needed for his ongoing lecturing for the British Council. In April 1941, as the German army neared the Greek capital, they were once again forced to flee, this time to Egypt. After a delay, Smith was once again given a teaching posts by the British Council in October 1941, this time at Farouk University
in Alexandria. The pair's time spent in Greece and Egypt formed the foundation for the last four novels of the Fortunes of War.
In September 1942, the couple moved to Jerusalem, where Smith became the controller of programmes of the Palestine Broadcasting Service, later moving to the post of acting deputy postmaster-general for the Palestine government. Subsequently released MI5 files claim that throughout the war, Smith had been secretly working to increase Soviet influence in the countries where he was posted.
. According to features producer Douglas Cleverdon
, Gilliam "genially tolerated" Smith's Communist Party membership. In 1947, he was identified by MI5 as a "secret member of the CPGB" (Communist Party of Great Britain
) and part of a communist cell at the BBC in 1947, and as a result his movements were followed and his telephone bugged. An MI5 officer noted that "Reggie has paraded his opinions (so) flamboyantly that his friends thought that he was consequently in danger of losing his job." Indeed, as the Cold War
developed, fears of a communist in the features department led him to being transferred to the drama department in 1954. Following the Soviet invasion of Hungary, Smith resigned his Communist Party membership. Given a freehand and liberty, Smith flourished as a radio producer, in what is considered a golden period for radio. Important work from his BBC days include The Easter Rising, 1916 (1966) about the Irish uprising, and The Pump (1972), a documentary about a major heart operation. He was a kind, generous and enthusiastic man, well-known for finding parts in his productions for anybody who seemed to need one. Harold Pinter
and Richard Burton
were among those he helped in the early days of their careers. He was also well-known for his passionate enthusiasm for chess, cricket and rugby, and he would sometimes disappear from a production midway through the day to attend a match.
Smith continued his socializing ways, spending hours in the pub with seasoned drinkers such as Louis MacNeice, Dylan Thomas
, Bob Pocock, and Bertie Rodgers, always in the public bar, never the saloon, due to his Marxist principles. He would often announce that he was "off to the pub" at dinner parties at his own home, sometimes taking a male guest and sometimes not. He was also a considerable womanizer, and had numerous affairs throughout his married life, though neither he nor Manning contemplated divorce.
Smith was visiting professor of literary arts at the University of Surrey
from 1979 to 1983, and in 1984, he published a book about the poet Anna Wickham
.
Smith died of cirrhosis
of the liver on 3 May 1985, aged seventy, at the Royal Free Hospital
. A well-liked and highly gregarious man, his funeral and PEN
memorial meeting were standing room only.
Guy Pringle, Smith's fictional counterpart, was portrayed by Kenneth Branagh
in the 1987 BBC television adaptation of the Fortunes of War
.
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
radio producer
Radio producer
A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. There are two main types of producer. An audio or creative producer and a content producer. Audio producers create sounds and audio specifically, content producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature...
, possible communist spy and model for the character of Guy Pringle in the novel sequence Fortunes of War written by his wife, Olivia Manning
Olivia Manning
Olivia Mary Manning CBE was a British novelist, poet, writer and reviewer. Her fiction and non-fiction, frequently detailing journeys and personal odysseys, were principally set in England, Ireland, Europe and the Middle East. She often wrote from her personal experience, though her books also...
.
Early life
Smith was born and brought up in the working class neighbourhood of Aston Manor, BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, the son of a toolmaker, William Smith and his wife Annie Griffiths, who supplemented the family income by charring. Reggie, as he was generally known, attended King Edward VI Grammar School, Aston
King Edward VI Aston
King Edward VI Aston School is a selective, all-boys' grammar school and specialist Sports College. The school, designed by Birmingham architect J.A. Chatwin, opened in 1883 and is still located on its original site, in the Aston area of Birmingham, England....
; the family were frequently short of money since his father was often ill; in order to save expense, Smith never told his parents that he needed glasses for his very short sight. Having read David Copperfield
David Copperfield (novel)
The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery , commonly referred to as David Copperfield, is the eighth novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Like most of his works, it originally appeared in serial...
at the age of 12 he determined that he wanted to become "a teacher to share the wonder of such books with others." Smith went on to Birmingham University, from which he graduated in 1937 with a BA degree with honours in English literature. Smith had a great love of poetry and a phenomenal memory for poems, prose and plays. While at university he founded the Birmingham Socialist Society and met poet Louis MacNeice
Louis MacNeice
Frederick Louis MacNeice CBE was an Irish poet and playwright. He was part of the generation of "thirties poets" which included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis; nicknamed "MacSpaunday" as a group — a name invented by Roy Campbell, in his Talking Bronco...
at the time an assistant lecturer in classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
. He became a lifelong friend.
According to MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
files, Smith was recruited as a Soviet spy by the art historian Anthony Blunt
Anthony Blunt
Anthony Frederick Blunt , was a British art historian who was exposed as a Soviet spy late in his life.Blunt was Professor of the History of Art at the University of London, director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, Surveyor of the King's Pictures and London...
during a visit to Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
in 1938. He commented later, "I think I presented Anthony Blunt with a conundrum: was I rough trade or was I a gent slumming? I think that it went though his mind that I might make good spy material." Smith was unusual material for a spy; ebullient and friendly, he made no secret of his communist beliefs, and friends reported him unable to keep secrets. His flamboyant character and lifestyle was to cause some concern among other spies, who according to MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
critiqued his behaviour as not showing "the stability or competence that should distinguish a party member".
Romania, Greece, Egypt, Palestine
After tackling multiple temporary jobs including actor, postal worker, archeologist, editor, and teacher, Smith applied for a post with the British CouncilBritish Council
The British Council is a United Kingdom-based organisation specialising in international educational and cultural opportunities. It is registered as a charity both in England and Wales, and in Scotland...
, and was posted as lecturer in English in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
in 1938. He returned on leave to the UK in the summer of 1939, and was introduced to the novelist Olivia Manning by the writer Walter Allen
Walter Allen
Walter Ernest Allen was an English literary critic and novelist. He is best known for his classic study The English Novel: a Short Critical History ....
. In preparation for the meeting, Smith had read her work. He admired it greatly, and considered it showed "signs of genius"; he was also immediately smitten with its author. A few weeks later, on 18 August 1939 the pair were married at Marylebone registry office, with McNeice and the poet Stevie Smith
Stevie Smith
Florence Margaret Smith, known as Stevie Smith was an English poet and novelist.-Life:Stevie Smith, born Florence Margaret Smith in Kingston upon Hull, was the second daughter of Ethel and Charles Smith. Contemporary Women Poets...
as witnesses. Unconventional as ever, the bridegroom failed to produce a wedding ring for the ceremony. Throughout their marriage, Smith strongly supported his wife's writing, encouraging and sustaining her during Manning's frequent despondency and discouragement about her success.
A few days later, Smith and his bride were recalled to Romania, arriving just as Britain declared War on Germany. Smith was exempt from military service due to his work with the British Council, though it is likely that his poor eyesight would have meant failing the required medical. During their 13 months in Romania, Smith and Manning witnessed the approaching war, including the abdication of King Carol
Carol II of Romania
Carol II reigned as King of Romania from 8 June 1930 until 6 September 1940. Eldest son of Ferdinand, King of Romania, and his wife, Queen Marie, a daughter of Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, the second eldest son of Queen Victoria...
and the rise of Fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
. The couple's experiences were to form the basis of the first two novels of the Fortunes of War, The Great Fortune and The Spoilt City. Smith appears in the novel as the central character of Guy Pringle, a large, extroverted, and gregarious Communist who pays little attention to his new wife while lavishing attention and time on everybody else. The Smiths participated regularly in the café society, but Manning often went home early, leaving her new husband to expound earnestly but naively on the merits of communism, including how much better Jews would be well treated in a Russian-occupied Romania, and excusing the Soviet pact with Hitler, and the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
's invasion
Winter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
of Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. Just as in the novels, Smith's name was broadcast by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
as that of a spy.
In October 1940, the couple escaped the rising fascism, fleeing to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece. Typically when choosing what to pack Smith chose his books rather than work suits, which he needed for his ongoing lecturing for the British Council. In April 1941, as the German army neared the Greek capital, they were once again forced to flee, this time to Egypt. After a delay, Smith was once again given a teaching posts by the British Council in October 1941, this time at Farouk University
Alexandria University
Alexandria University is a university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fuad University , becoming an independent entity in 1942. It was known as Farouk University until the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 when its name was changed to the University of Alexandria...
in Alexandria. The pair's time spent in Greece and Egypt formed the foundation for the last four novels of the Fortunes of War.
In September 1942, the couple moved to Jerusalem, where Smith became the controller of programmes of the Palestine Broadcasting Service, later moving to the post of acting deputy postmaster-general for the Palestine government. Subsequently released MI5 files claim that throughout the war, Smith had been secretly working to increase Soviet influence in the countries where he was posted.
Return to England
At the end of the war in 1945, Smith returned to the UK, where he was appointed as a radio producer in the BBC features department by Laurence GilliamLaurence Gilliam
Laurence Duval Gilliam, OBE was a BBC radio producer.Gilliam worked with the Gramophone Company, before transferred to the BBC drama department in 1933, where he was responsible for features. At the end of World War II he was appointed OBE for his outstanding programme....
. According to features producer Douglas Cleverdon
Douglas Cleverdon
Douglas James Cleverdon was an English bookseller and radio producer, in both fields associated with numerous leading cultural figures in the United Kingdom.-Early life:...
, Gilliam "genially tolerated" Smith's Communist Party membership. In 1947, he was identified by MI5 as a "secret member of the CPGB" (Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
) and part of a communist cell at the BBC in 1947, and as a result his movements were followed and his telephone bugged. An MI5 officer noted that "Reggie has paraded his opinions (so) flamboyantly that his friends thought that he was consequently in danger of losing his job." Indeed, as the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
developed, fears of a communist in the features department led him to being transferred to the drama department in 1954. Following the Soviet invasion of Hungary, Smith resigned his Communist Party membership. Given a freehand and liberty, Smith flourished as a radio producer, in what is considered a golden period for radio. Important work from his BBC days include The Easter Rising, 1916 (1966) about the Irish uprising, and The Pump (1972), a documentary about a major heart operation. He was a kind, generous and enthusiastic man, well-known for finding parts in his productions for anybody who seemed to need one. Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
and Richard Burton
Richard Burton
Richard Burton, CBE was a Welsh actor. He was nominated seven times for an Academy Award, six of which were for Best Actor in a Leading Role , and was a recipient of BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Awards for Best Actor. Although never trained as an actor, Burton was, at one time, the highest-paid...
were among those he helped in the early days of their careers. He was also well-known for his passionate enthusiasm for chess, cricket and rugby, and he would sometimes disappear from a production midway through the day to attend a match.
Smith continued his socializing ways, spending hours in the pub with seasoned drinkers such as Louis MacNeice, Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
, Bob Pocock, and Bertie Rodgers, always in the public bar, never the saloon, due to his Marxist principles. He would often announce that he was "off to the pub" at dinner parties at his own home, sometimes taking a male guest and sometimes not. He was also a considerable womanizer, and had numerous affairs throughout his married life, though neither he nor Manning contemplated divorce.
Final years
Smith took early retirement from the BBC, and in 1973 was appointed professor of liberal and contemporary studies at the New University of Ulster. He held the post until his retirement in 1979, when he was made professor emeritus. Manning refused to move to Ulster, and so the couple were parted for several months of the year. She died in July 1980, and in 1981, Smith married Diana Robson, with whom he had been in a long-term relationship since the 1960s.Smith was visiting professor of literary arts at the University of Surrey
University of Surrey
The University of Surrey is a university located within the county town of Guildford, Surrey in the South East of England. It received its charter on 9 September 1966, and was previously situated near Battersea Park in south-west London. The institution was known as Battersea College of Technology...
from 1979 to 1983, and in 1984, he published a book about the poet Anna Wickham
Anna Wickham
Anna Wickham was the pseudonym of Edith Alice Mary Harper , a British poet with strong Australian connections. She is remembered as a modernist figure and feminist writer, though one not able to command sustained critical attention in her lifetime...
.
Smith died of cirrhosis
Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...
of the liver on 3 May 1985, aged seventy, at the Royal Free Hospital
Royal Free Hospital
The Royal Free Hospital is a major teaching hospital in Hampstead, London, England and part of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust....
. A well-liked and highly gregarious man, his funeral and PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
memorial meeting were standing room only.
Guy Pringle, Smith's fictional counterpart, was portrayed by Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
in the 1987 BBC television adaptation of the Fortunes of War
Fortunes of War (tv series)
Fortunes of War is a 1987 BBC television adaptation of Olivia Manning's cycle of novels Fortunes of War. It stars Kenneth Branagh as Guy Pringle, lecturer in English Literature in Bucharest during the early part of the Second World War, and Emma Thompson as his wife Harriet...
.
Works
- The Writings of Anna Wickham: Free Woman and Poet. Edited and introduced by R.D. Smith. London 1984.