Colin Philip Smith
Born(1936-11-24)24 November 1936
London, England
Died (aged 86)
Pokhara, Nepal
NationalityBritish
CitizenshipNepal
Scientific career
FieldsLepidopterist
Natural history
InstitutionsAnnapurna Natural History Museum

Colin Philip Smith (24 November 1936 – 4 November 2023) was a British lepidopterist who lived and worked in Nepal. He was widely known as "Putali Bajey" (Nepali: पुतली बाजे ) or "Butterfly Grandad" in Nepal.[1][2] He spent more than 50 years in Nepal studying and writing about its butterfly fauna.[3] He is the author of several books on butterflies of Nepal.[4][5][6] He visited Nepal in 1966 as a teacher under a United Mission to Nepal program. Smith taught some of the most popular Nepali personalities such as Baburam Bhattarai and Upendra Devkota at the start of his career.[7][8]

In 2019, the Nepal government granted him honorary citizenship of Nepal for his achievements as well as international reputation.[4][5][8][9] He is the third person to receive the honour after Sir Edmund Hillary and Toni Hagen, and before Um Hong-gil.[9][10]

Smith died due to a gastrointestinal stromal tumor at Hariyokharka Hospital in Pokhara, on 4 November 2023. He was 87.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "The delicate beauty of Nepal's butterflies". OnlineKhabar. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "'पुतली बाजे' अब सम्मानार्थ नेपाली". DeshSanchar. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  3. ↑ "Birds and Butterfly Research". Namaste Nepal. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Putali Baje obliged with Nepali citizenship". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  5. 1 2 "पुतली बाजे and the metaphor of metamorphosis". NepaliTimes. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  6. ↑ "Butterflies in Nepal". Inside Himalayas. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  7. ↑ "पुतली बाजे: 'पुतली खोज्दै आएँ, नेपाली नागरिक भएर मर्न मन छ'". BBCNews. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  8. 1 2 "British national 'Putalibaje' receives citizenship of Nepal". South Asia Time. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  9. 1 2 "British national Putalibaje to receive honorary citizenship". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  10. ↑ "Korean philanthropist Um Hong Gil gets honorary citizenship". South Asia Time. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
  11. ↑ रहेनन् ‘पुतली बाजे’, ८७ वर्षमा अस्ताए (in Nepali)


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