Lucy Abel Smith

{{Infobox person

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FSA}}

| alma_mater = University of London

| occupation = {{flatlist|

Author
historian
arts administrator

}}

| spouse = {{marriage|David Francis Abel Smith|1982}}

| relatives = Alexander Abel Smith (father-in-law)

}}

Lucy Marie Abel Smith {{post-nominals|country=GBR|FSA}} (née Knox) is a British author, historian, arts administrator, and tourism businesswoman. She is the founder of the Fresh Air Sculpture exhibition, the Reality & Beyond tourism agency, and the Transylvania Book Festival.

Biography

Lucy Marie Knox was raised in Ayrshire, where her father Bryce Knox was Lord Lieutenant before becoming Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire and Arran. On 18 November 1982, she married David Francis Abel Smith, an engineer and son of British Army officer and banker Alexander Abel Smith.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7KA-AQAAIAAJ |title=Debrett's People of Today |year=2006 |pages=2 |publisher=Debrett's Peerage Limited |isbn=978-1-870520-32-4 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Fokschaner |first=Serena |date=2019-05-11 |title=The house that dares to be different |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/may/11/the-house-that-dares-to-be-different |access-date=2023-12-03 |issn=0029-7712}} She studied medieval art at the University of London.{{Cite web |title=About us |url=https://realityandbeyond.co.uk/about-us/ |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=Reality & Beyond Ltd |language=en-GB}}

After working as a tour guide in Cold War-era Eastern Europe, Abel Smith and Jiří Kotalík wrote A Walking Guide to Prague, which she called "the first post-communist guidebook to the city".{{Cite book |last1=Kotalík |first1=Jiří |title=A Walking Guide to Prague |last2=Abel Smith |first2=Lucy |publisher=Harper Perennial |year=1991 |location=New York City}} Her parents "want[ing her] to have a sensible job", she had a career as a guest lecturer, working at Art Fund, The British Museum Friends, Sotheby's, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. She also works as an art commissioner.

Abel Smith and her husband David live in Grade II-listed Quenington Old Rectory, where in 1992 they opened Fresh Air Sculpture, a biennial open-air sculpture exhibition at the rectory's garden.{{Cite web |title=Quenington Old Rectory |url=https://theoxfordmagazine.com/venue/quenington-old-rectory/ |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=The Oxford Magazine |language=en-GB}} In June 2013, her open-air library, as part of the 2013 edition, was featured on The Daily Telegraph; inspired by medieval dovecotes, the library features art by Romanian local artist Ion Constantinescu, and ceramicist Carol McNicoll, textile artist Donna Wilson.{{Cite news |date=2013-06-25 |title=My space: Lucy Abel Smith, historian |language=en |work=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/interiors/10138747/My-space-Lucy-Abel-Smith-historian.html |access-date=2023-12-03}}

Abel Smith has a career in the tourism industry, and she is the founder of Reality & Beyond, a tourism agency that specialises in the arts and literature. In 2013, she founded the Transylvania Book Festival in Richiș, a village in Sibiu County, Romania.{{Cite web |title=Lucy Abel-Smith |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/authors/2143173/lucy-abel-smith |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=Penguin Random House Canada |language=English}}{{Cite news |last=Gaisman |first=Jonathan |date=2023-03-13 |title=Romanian romance: Returning life to empty churches and villages |language=en-GB |work=Catholic Herald |url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/romanian-romance-returning-life-to-empty-churches-and-villages/ |access-date=2023-12-03}} In 2016, she published Travels in Transylvania, a travel book focused on the valley around the Târnava river.{{Cite web |title=Travels in Transylvania by Lucy Abel-Smith |url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/548093/travels-in-transylvania-by-lucy-abel-smith/9781905131693 |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=Penguin Random House Canada |language=English}}

She was appointed Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries on 5 May 2012.{{Cite web |title=Mrs Lucy Abel Smith |url=https://www.sal.org.uk/our-fellows/directory/mrs-lucy-abel-smith/ |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=Society of Antiquaries of London |language=en-GB}}