SAD ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT IAN SIMPSON ROSS

Sad Announcement about IAN SIMPSON ROSS, biographer of Adam Smith

I received this sad news yesterday evening from his wife Ingrid:

“Ian passed away last night (21 May, 8:20 pm)... he died peacefully at home.” 

I sent immediate condolences to Ingrid, who has suffered a great loss; they were a delightful and close couple:  

“Ingrid

So sad to hear of Ian passing away. So glad you both came over last year and we had a chance to talk about our interests. 

I hope the recent news of Scotland’s political success at least gave Ian comfort.

I could not begin to cover my deep regard for Ian since I began work on Adam Smith’s thinking, particularly Ian’s magnificent scholarly biography. 

In a new paper I wrote recently which I am finalising its editing just now, I refered to Ian in its opening paragraph: 

My Paper “also draws where relevant on two biographies of Adam Smith, one written by his contemporary,  Dugald Stewart, a close family friend (Stewart, 1793), and the other by Ian Ross, the doyen among Adam Smith’s modern scholarly biographers (Ross, 1995)". 

Ian’s biography of Ian Ross: “The Life of Adam Smith” (1995, 2nd ed 2010; Oxford University Press), was a magnificent achievement by Ian and, unless a completely new lost chache of original Smith papers are discovered, it will never be surpassed.

[I shall prepare an appreciation of Ian in a day or so].