Peter Smith (historian)


Peter Smith is a historian specializing in Baháʼí studies. He earned his doctorate in the Sociology of Religion from University of Lancaster, and his dissertation was later published as The Babi and Bahaʼi Religions: From Messianic Shiʻism to a World Religion. He is currently on faculty at Mahidol University International College in Thailand.

Background

Born in Yorkshire, Peter Smith was raised in Bristol, England, where he became a Baháʼí at the age of 16 years old, initially hearing about the religion from media coverage of the first Baháʼí World Congress held in London. In 1968, after the Palermo Conference held to commemorate the exile of Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the religion, to Acre, Smith along with Denis MacEoin, Moojan Momen, and Tahir Ronald Taherzadeh, served as one of the youth guides at the mass pilgrimage to the Baháʼí World Centre. Smith has been an active member of the British Baháʼí community, having served on National Teaching Committees and the Local Spiritual Assemblies of Bristol, Durham and Lancaster. He is married to Sammi Anvar with whom he has two children. Since 1985, he has pioneered to Thailand, where he serves on the faculty of Mahidol University International College.

Books