Arnold Smith

For other people named Arnold Smith, see Arnold Smith (disambiguation).

Arnold Cantwell Smith
OC CH
1st Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations
In office
1 July 1965 – 30 June 1975
HeadElizabeth II
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded bySir Shridath Ramphal
Personal details
Born(1915-01-18)18 January 1915
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died7 February 1994(1994-02-07) (aged 79)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada[1]

Arnold Cantwell Smith OC CH (January 18, 1915 – February 7, 1994) was a Canadian diplomat. He was the first Commonwealth Secretary-General, serving from 1965–1975.

A talented student, he won a Rhodes Scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford.

From 1958 to 1961, he was the Canadian Ambassador to Egypt. From 1961 to 1963, he was the Canadian Ambassador to the USSR. During his time at the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth flag was designed on his and Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's initiative.

In 1975 he was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour. In 1984, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for "a long and distinguished diplomatic career".[2]

Arnold Smith was the elder brother of Wilfred Cantwell Smith.[3]

His published work includes Stitches In Time; the Commonwealth in World Politics.[4]

  1. ^ Anyaoku, E. (1994, February 10). Obituary: Arnold Smith. The Independent. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-arnold-smith-1393187.html.
  2. ^ Order of Canada citation
  3. ^ "Wilfred Cantwell Smith". Archived from the original on 3 July 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2008.
  4. ^ Smith, Arnold, and Clyde Sanger. Stitches in Time : The Commonwealth in World Politics. Don Mills, Ont.: General Publishing, 1981.