Bernard J. Smith


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Bernard J. Smith
(1951–2012)

In the 1980s Hungarian physical geography 
much profi ted from the assistance of the British 
Geomorphological Research Group, its members 
visited us on several occasions. The British–
Hungarian Geographical Seminars also provided 
an excellent framework for gett ing new informa-
tion on international research trends, consultations 
on various topics and also fi eld trips to interesting 
sites. To the trip to the Giant’s Causeway (Northern 
Ireland) in 1982 our Bernie Smith from the Queen’s 
University of Belfast accompanied us. He proved to 
be a knowledgeable guide with humour and kind-
ness. He remained to be associated with Hungary 
and included Budapest among the study sites of 
his urban stone weathering experiments (along 
with Rio de Janeiro, Venice, Prague, Dublin). With 
his students he also did fi eld work in the loess and 
granite regions of Hungary.

The fi rst disturbing news of his serious illness reached me when he did not re-
spond to my Christmas card last year. And now a sad message came that he passed away 
on 31 October 2012 – exactly on my birthday. He was only 61 years old.

Bernie was a geographer, enthusiastic about geography both as a scientifi c disci-
pline and a school subject. This means that he could not separate the researcher in himself 
from the teacher. As a geographer always hungry for new experience, he travelled widely 
in the world to gather fi rst-hand information and impression on as many spectacular 
landscapes of the globe as he could. 

On completing his university education at Reading in 1975, he chose to start 
his career in northern Nigeria, at the Ahmadou Bello University of Zaria and spent four 
years there. Grasping an opportunity to work in the United Kingdom, he joined the staff  
of Queen’s and sett led in Belfast. When I asked him in the late eighties whether living 
in this city of constant turmoil or even street fi ghting involved some danger for him, 
his reply was that he had never ever seen any religious clashes during his stay there. 
Working with Professor Brian Whalley, he became head of the Department of Tropical 
Geomorphology and held this position from 1979 to 2011, when he had to retire early 
because of his illness. 

Within geomorphology Bernie’s interests ranged on a wide scale: he fell in love 
with the arid environments at an early age, and to this were added his curiosity in desert 
processes (granite weathering, dust and loess formation) but also deep weathering in the 
humid tropics and similar processes under Mediterranean climate. Within the School of 
Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology in the early 1990s he established a specialized 
research unit, the Weathering Research Group. This allowed him to start international in-
vestigations embracing many countries and numerous links to human geography, since the 
study of building stones decay involves aspects of architecture, urban planning, cultural 
heritage, archaeology, history and many others. The interdisciplinary contacts brought him 



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many friends in all parts of Europe and – through his participation at conferences – also in 
other continents. He also became associated with the UNESCO’s Natural World Heritage 
programme and worked as an evaluator. Among his achievements is the inscription of the 
Giant’s Causeway on the list of the heritage sites. 

Along with the members of his family, his wife, Dorothy, and children, Daniel and 
Catherine, Bernie must be best remembered by his students, who follow in his steps and 
teach with great enthusiasm not only at Queen’s but also at the various universities of the 
United Kingdom and the world. The older generation of Hungarian geomorphologists will 
also keep him in good memory and feel gratitude for the conversations with him on both 
academic and every-day topics, which gave us insight into his modest but wise, somewhat 
secluded but kind personality. May you rest in peace, Bernie. 

Dénes Lóczy