Colin smith biography

1927-1997

Colin was born in Brighton in 1927. He was a leading authority on Medieval Spanish literature, being Professor of Spanish at St. Catherine's College, Cambridge between 1975-1990. He wrote a number of texts, and was the compiler for the Collins Spanish/English Dictionary, which is one of the best dictionaries available.

He joined the AES in the late 1960s, having an interest in both micro and macro moths, conservation and, not surprisingly, entomological literature. In 1990 he was the first person to record in Britain, in Sussex, the Noctuid moth Agrochola haematidea. Colin is responsible for its common name, the "Southern Chestnut" (he personally ranked this find as one of his most worthwhile achievements). This moth is a scarce Mediterranean species and had been known only from the Iberian peninsular and certain parts of south-west France. The new colony turned out to be a well-established one, and is believed to have been there since

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