Sir Charles Saumarez Smith (b. 1954)

RA Collection: People and Organisations

Charles Saumarez Smith was Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts from 2007 to 2018, during which he was closely involved in the building plans for Burlington Gardens. He is the author of books including The Building of Castle Howard (1990); The rise of design: design and the domestic interior in eighteenth-century England (2000) and The company of artists: the origins of the Royal Academy of Arts in London (2012)

He is an Honorary Fellow of RIBA and of Christ’s College, Cambridge. He was awarded a Knighthood (Knight Bachelor) in The Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2018.

He was Professor of Architectural History at the RA from 2019-2023.