BIOGRAPHY OF ADAM SMITH "Bankruptcy is perhaps the greatest and most humiliating calamity which can befall an innocent man. The greater part of men, therefore, are sufficiently careful to avoid it. Some, indeed, do not avoid it; as some do not avoid the gallows." Adam Smith. Adam Smith was a Scottish political economist and philosopher. The exact date of his birth is unknown, but he was baptized at Kirkcaldy on June 5, 1723. His father died six months prior to this date. Adam Smith senior was the comptroller of the customs at Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland. Smith grew up in Kirkcaldy with his mother. In 1737, Adam Smith became a student at Glasgow. He was studying mo