Stephen D. Smith

Dr Stephen D. Smith, MBE

Co-founder and Director of the UK Holocaust Centre and Aegis TrustChairman of the UK’s Holocaust Memorial Day Trust

Born 1967, Stephen Smith co-founded the UK Holocaust Centre with his brother James in 1995, and co-founded the Aegis Trust with James in 2000.

He graduated from the University of London in 1991 with a degree in Theology, and received his Doctorate from the University of Birmingham in 2000, having focussed his postgraduate study on the dynamics of Holocaust survivor testimony.

Stephen Smith has consulted on the development of a number of Holocaust memorial and education centres overseas, including Lithuania's 'House of Memory' and the Cape Town Holocaust Centre in South Africa, which was heavily inspired by a visit from the founder, Myra Osrin, to the UK Holocaust Centre.

In 2004, Stephen had primary responsibility for development of the text for the exhibitions in the Kigali Memorial Centre, Rwanda. Aegis was commissioned by Kigali City Council to establish the Kigali Memorial Centre.

Stephen is a member of the British delegation to the Inter-governmental Taskforce on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (ITF). He has been part of the British delegation since the ITF was founded in 1998 by Sweden, the USA and the UK, on the personal initiative of Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson. Over 20 countries are now part of this body.

One early outcome of the work of the ITF was the development of the UK's national Holocaust Memorial Day, inaugurated in 2001. Stephen played a central role in this and served as a senior advisor to the Home Office on the Day's development over the years, being appointed Chairman of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust in November 2004 when the decision was made that the running of the Day should be handed over to a charitable body outside Government.

An eminent speaker and thinker who sits on numerous committees in the UK and abroad, Stephen has developed an impressive reputation for his contribution to the field. Recognition for his work includes an MBE, the Interfaith Gold Medallion, and an Honorary Doctorate in Law from the University of Leicester.

Stephen's publications include 'Making Memory: Creating Britain's First Holocaust Centre', 'Forgotten Places: The Holocaust and the Remnants of Destruction', and 'The Holocaust and the Christian World', which he co-edited with Carol Rittner and Irena Steinfeldt. Stephen also co-produced 'Death March: A Survivor's Story', which was broadcast on BBC2 and BBC4. He is currently developing his first work of fiction.