Born on October 30, 1956, in Connecticut, Smith studied African law and anthropology at the University of Paris and history, philosophy, and political science at the Free University of Berlin. According to La Vie des Idées, Smith has a PhD in semiotics.[1] After working as a freelance journalist for a few years, Smith joined the staff of Libération in 1986, replacing Pierre Haski as the paper's Africa Editor. In 2000 he became the Africa Editor for Le Monde, becoming deputy director there two years later. In 2005 he left the paper to return to work as a freelance journalist.
Smith is the author of numerous French language books and academic publications related to the anthropology and history of Africa, including books on Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, and Somalia. He has also written a number of biographies on notable African people, including General Mohamed Oufkir (1998), Emperor Jean-Bédel Bokassa (2000), and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (2007).
Smith is credited with extensively researching the background to the French television miniseries Carlos (2010), about the international terrorist Carlos the Jackal.
Smith is a professor of African studies[2] at Duke University.
His work has been highly criticized by French scholars.[3][4][5][6][7]
