Anthony D. Smith (born 1928) is a noted English theorist of nationalism. Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the English as an ethnic group and nation. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ...

Smith took his first degree in Classics and Philosophy in Oxford, and his master's degree and doctorate in Sociology at the London School of Economics. He is currently Professor of Ethnicity and Nationalism in the European Institute at the London School of Economics. Classics, particularly within the Western University tradition, when used as a singular noun, means the study of the language, literature, history, art, and other aspects of Greek and Roman culture during the time frame known as classical antiquity. ... The philosopher Socrates about to take poison hemlock as ordered by the court. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a specialist constituent college of the University of London. ... The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a specialist constituent college of the University of London. ...

He is a former student of the philosopher and anthropologist Ernest Gellner, but did not share his view of nationalism in the long run. He created an approach of nationalism he called ethnosymbolism, which is a synthesis of modernist and traditional views on the subject. See Anthropology. ... I do not think I could have written the book on nationalism which I did write, were I not capable of crying, with the help of a little alcohol, over folk songs . ... Primordialism is the argument - put forward by both scholars and activists - which contends that nations are ancient, natural phenomena; that one has a nation as obviously as one has a measure of height. ...

Smith argues that nationalism draws on the pre-existing history of the "group", an attempt to fashion this history into a sense of common identity and shared history. This is not to say that this history should academically valid or cogent - indeed, Smith asserts, many nationalisms are based on historically flawed interpretations of past events and tend to overly mythologise small, inaccurate parts of their history.

Nationalism, according to Smith, does not require that members of a "nation" should all be alike, only that they should feel an intense bond of solidarity to the [[nation] and other members of their nation. A sense of nationalism can inhabit and be produced from whatever dominant ideology exists in a given locale. Nationalism builds on pre-existing kinship, religious and belief systems. Smith describes the ethnic groups that form the background of modern nations as "ethnie". Solidarity (Polish: ; full name: Independent Self-governing Trade Union Solidarity — Niezależny Samorządny Związek Zawodowy Solidarność) is a Polish trade union federation founded in September 1980 at the then Lenin Shipyards, and originally led by Lech Wałęsa. ... The dominant ideology in Marxist or marxian theory is the set of common values and beliefs shared by most people in a given society, framing how the majority think about a range of topics, from art and science to politics. ... Kinship is the most basic principle of organizing individuals into social groups, roles, and categories. ...

A [[nation-state] can according to Smith be defined as “a state claming to be a nation”, while a nation, can be defined as “a named population sharing an historic territory, common myths and historical memories, a mass public culture, a common economy and common legal rights and duties for its members”. An ethnie is in turn defined as ”a named population sharing a collective proper name, a myth of common ancestry, shared historical memories, one or more differencing elements of common culture, an association with a specific ‘homeland’ and a sense of solidarity for significant sectors of the population”. It should be noted that the boundaries of an ethnie can be quite recognisable even when not all of its characteristics appear at the same time. It is, in other words, not a question of a smallest common denominator. The modern Croatian ethnicity would be such a case. Its distinction from its Serb and Bosnian Muslim neighbours is marked by religious difference (Roman Catholic in contrast to Muslim or Orthodox Christian). In the north, it is however distinguished from Italians, Slovenians and Austrians mainly by language. A homeland is the concept of the territory to which one belongs; usually, the country in which a particular nationality was born. ... Serbs (in the Serbian language Срби, Srbi) are a south Slavic people living chiefly in Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina. ... Bosniaks (natively: Bošnjaci) are South Slavs descended from those who converted to Islam during the Ottoman period (15th-19th century). ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... The term Orthodox Christian refers to two Christian traditions: Oriental Orthodoxy, which separated from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in the 5th century; Eastern Orthodoxy, which the Roman Catholic church separated from in 1054 was the church that was started by the apostles. ...

Selected publications

• (1971) Theories of Nationalism, ISBN 0-7156-0555-0; 2nd ed. (1983), ISBN 0-7156-0584-4
• (1987) The Ethnic Origins of Nations, ISBN 0-631-15205-9
• (1991) National Identity, ISBN 0-14-012565-5
• (1995) Nations and Nationalism in a Global Era, ISBN 0-7456-1018-8
• (1998) Nationalism and Modernism, ISBN 0-415-06340-X
• (2000) The Nation in History, ISBN 0-7456-2580-0
• (2003) Chosen Peoples: Sacred Sources of National Identity]], ISBN 0-19-210017-3