Michael Shmith

{{short description|Australian journalist and writer (born 1949)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2015}}

{{Use Australian English|date=August 2015}}

Michael Shmith (born 7 July 1949) is an Australian journalist and writer.

He was born on 7 July[http://newsstore.fairfax.com.au/apps/viewDocument.ac;jsessionid=555E26C6EE64F5B316A1AEA0ECCFBCE5?page=1&sy=afr&kw=director&pb=none&dt=selectRange&dr=1month&so=relevance&sf=text&sf=headline&rc=20&rm=200&sp=nrm&clsPage=1&docID=AGE100710VL7UB7LC1EF "Mahler on my mind"] by Michael Shmith, The Age, 10 July 2010, A2, 19]. Retrieved 4 February 2016 1949,[http://www.thepeerage.com/p10362.htm#i103619 The Peerage: Michael Smith]. Retrieved 4 February 2016 the son of Athol Shmith and his wife Patricia "Bambi" née Tuckwell (they later divorced). He worked at The Age in Melbourne from 1981 until 1995, when he became communications director for the Australian Ballet.{{cite web|url=http://www.mwf.com.au/2009/content/mwf_2009_standard.asp?name=ShmithM|title=Authors 2009 – Michael Shmith|date=August 2009|work=2009 Festival Archive|publisher=Melbourne Writers Festival|accessdate=19 June 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316010721/http://www.mwf.com.au/2009/content/mwf_2009_standard.asp?name=ShmithM|archivedate=16 March 2011|df=dmy-all}} Shmith was then a senior writer for The Age{{cite news|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/wedding-ban-attracts-immature-reaction/story-e6frgd0x-1226047203950|title=Wedding ban attracts immature reaction |last=Christopher Pearson |author-link=Christopher Pearson (journalist) |date=30 April 2011|work=The Australian|publisher=News Limited|accessdate=19 June 2013}} and its arts editor from 1985 to 1993. From 2010 to 2017 he was the paper's opera critic. He resigned from the position in August 2017 alleging it was over a disagreement with The Age{{'}}s arts editor who had no space left to publish an unsolicited review.[https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/abr-arts/4211-why-i-quit-as-opera-critic-of-the-age "Why I quit as opera critic of The Age"] by Michael Shmith, Australian Book Review, 14 August 2017

He edited the 1999 Ebury Publishing edition of The New Pocket Kobbé's Opera Book with his stepfather George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood.{{cite web|url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/242458|title=The New Pocket Kobbé's Opera Book / edited by the Earl of Harwood with Michael Shmith|publisher=National Library of Australia|accessdate=19 June 2013}}