My friend David Smith, who has died aged 85, was a professor of geography at Queen Mary University of London and the author of 21 books that focused mainly on the intersection between human geography, ethics and moral philosophy.
Much of his work centred around compelling case studies from research in South Africa, Palestine, Australia, the former Soviet Union and eastern Europe, looking in particular at the geographical causes of inequality and social injustice and what might be done about them.
David was born in Solihull in the West Midlands to James, who ran a secretarial agency, and Elizabeth (nee McIlquham), a draftswoman. After attending Solihull school he studied geography at Nottingham University, where he met Margaret Harrup, a fellow student who became a social worker. They were married in 1961 and collaborated on a number of projects, including as co-authors of a book, The United States: How They Live and Work, published in 1973.
David’s first post was as a lecturer at the University of Manchester from 1964 to 1966, when he moved with Margaret and his family to the US, where he lectured first at the University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale (1966-68) and then the University of Florida in Gainesville (1968-72). There were short visiting lectureships at the Universities of Natal and the Witwatersrand in South Africa and the University of New England in Australia in 1973, before he moved to Queen Mary University of London that year, remaining there until retirement in 2002.
Most of his books were written while he was at Queen Mary, and he was most proud of his last two, Geography and Social Justice (1994) and Moral Geographies: Ethics in a World of Difference (2000). Both are notable for their commitment to bringing human geography and moral philosophy into politically relevant dialogue.
Although he also wrote 104 academic papers over the years, David was not one for starry appearances at international conferences, although he was invited to many. What mattered for him was personal contact with students and colleagues, changing their lives through simple conversation. He was a private and family-oriented person, humble about his achievements, a man who loved to travel, eat out and listen to music, especially Elgar and jazz.
Margaret died in 2002. He is survived by their children, Michael and Tes, and his sister, Sheila.
