Alec Douglas Smith was born in Selukwe (now Shurugwi) in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) 25th May 1949. He grew up on his parents’ farm with his two siblings from his mother’s first marriage. It was an idyllic life that dramatically changed when is dad, Ian Douglas Smith, became prime minister in April, 1964. One month later Alec turned 15 years old. He experienced a total loss of identity, he was now ‘the son of the Prime Minister’, lost friends because of it, and others all of a sudden wanted to be his friend. As he became increasingly alienated from his father, his lifestyle descended into a haze of alcohol and drug abuse.
He was expelled from Rhodes University, South Africa, at the end of his first year in 1971. When returning from a holiday in Mozambique he was found in possession of 200 grams of Cannabis at the Tete/Nyamapanda border post between Mozambique and Rhodesia and taken to Salisbury (now Harare) Central Police Station. He was convicted of drug trafficking, fined and given a suspended prison sentence.
He started to work as a photographer in Harare to pay off his fine. In 1972, he was invited to a service in Mabelreign chapel in Harare. There he experienced the beginning of an extraordinary conversion which set him on a totally new path of reconciliation and forgiveness. He also reconciled with his family and had a profound influence on his father as the country approached independence.
After his Christian conversion he met with the group Moral Re-armament and became a close friend of black nationalist leader Rev Arthur Kanodereka. Tragically, Kanodereka was assassinated at the end of 1978.
In 1979 Alec married a Norwegian, Elisabeth Risum Smith, whom he had met at an MRA conference in Caux, Switzerland. After a short honeymoon they returned to Rhodesia where they set up home in Salisbury. They had two daughters and a son together who were all born and grew up in Harare.
Together with a senior civil servant and MRA member Joram Kucherera, Smith played a key role in affecting an eleventh-hour rapprochement between his father and Robert Mugabe, on the eve of Mugabe’s election victory in March 1980. Robert Mugabe and Ian Smith met at Mugabe’s new residence in Mount Pleasant, Harare. Ian Smith accepted the election results, Mugabe became Prime Minister and agreed to continue white participation in the government and administration. This meeting is said to have averted a bloody coup that had been planned should Mugabe win.
Alec joined the Corps of Chaplains in the new Zimbabwe army that now consisted of the three armies that only months before had been killing each other.
In 1986 Alec and family spent one year in Norway, which was meant for Alec to learn Norwegian and the children to experience Norway in all seasons of the year. However, his book “Now I call him Brother”, ghost written by Rebecca de Saintonge, was to be published in several European languages that year, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, German, and Dutch, and he spent most of the year travelling. The book has since also been published in French and Spanish.
On their return to Zimbabwe Alec invited three international soccer teams to Zimbabwe to play friendly matches with local soccer teams, all to raise money to help with food aid to Mozambique. The project was called Goal against Hunger. Zimbabwe was after all the food basket of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. The three teams that came paid their own flights, Rasing of Argentina, Brondby of Denmark and PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands.
Alec and a friend subsequently bought a football team “Black Aces” with the idea to start professional soccer in the country. After only one year of training and playing they reached the premier league, and won the cup.
In 2003 Alec’s wife Elisabeth started a job at the Norwegian Embassy in Tel Aviv. After a Christmas visit Alec had a heart attack at Heathrow Airport on his way to Harare, 19th January 2006. He died almost instantly. His body was cremated in London and the ashes brought to Norway for burial. Memorial services were held at Heathrow airport chapel and in Frogner church in Oslo, the very church he had been married in almost 25 years earlier. When the news reached Ian Smith at his home with Assisted Living in Cape Town his comment on Alec was: “He was my rock”.
Education
BA Hons in Religious Studies and Theology (University of Zimbabwe)
Professional experience
- Keynote Speaker at Third National Conference on Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution Denver Colorado, USA (1986)
- Speaker at International Conference for Peace (The Role of the Military in the Peace Process) Costa Rica, Central America (1990)
- Speaker at Conference for Justice and Peace - Convened by the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador, El Salvador, Central America (1990)
- Participant in MRA Initiative, supporting the UN Peace Process in Cambodia and Seminar on Confidence Building for Peace in Cambodia (1993)
- Speaker at the Tokyo International Dialogue (An Agenda for Reconciliation and Kyosei), at the United Nations University in Tokyo (1995)
- Speaker at a consultation on Reconciliation and Peacemaking at the National Institute for Research Advancement (NIRA) - a policy Think Tank sponsored by the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs in Tokyo (1995)
Publications
Now I call Him Brother - Marshall, Morgan and Scott - 1994
Translated and published in 9 Languages
Additional Professional Activities
- Chaplain in the Zimbabwe National Army (1980 - 1987)
- Initiator and Organizer of “Goal Against Hunger” - A series of International Charity Soccer Matches in Zimbabwe to assist Famine Relief in Mozambique (1989)
- Managing Director of Premier League Soccer Team “Black Aces” - The first fully Professional Soccer club in Zimbabwe (1991 - 1996)
Professional memberships
- Member of ZIFA (Zimbabwe Football Association) Council, 1992 - 1995
- Member of Zimbabwe Rugby Referee Society from 1987
- Member of Harare Agricultural Society
- Member of Harare Club
Community Activities
Rugby Refereeing
English