A 10 foot, bronze statue of one of the most famous thinkers of the Edinburgh Enlightenment, Adam Smith, was unveiled yesterday outside St. Giles Cathedral.
Adam Smith, often dubbed the "Father of Economics," was born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, in 1723, but spent much of his life in Edinburgh. The publication of his seminal book An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations is still widely considered by experts as one of the most important written works on free market economics.
However, although Smith has appeared on Scottish and English bank notes, he has had little recognition in his native town.
His grave was unmarked since his death in 1790 until campaigners raised the money to erect a tombstone two years ago. It would be hard to find a more prominent spot for the new statue of Smith, standing in enlarged and stern-faced form atop a 10 foot stone plinth on the High Street in the Old Town.
Sculptor Sandy Stoddart, who also created the statue of famous Enlightenment philospher and Adam Smith's friend David Hume (located just across the High Street), was commissioned to create the £250,000 monument by the London-based thinktank, the Adam Smith Institute.