David Atherton-Smith

David Atherton-Smith (20 July 1871 - 1958) was a Scottish born Quaker, a refugee relief worker and a professional vocalist. During World War I, he focused on humanitarian aid in France, initially for the French Red Cross, transferring to the American Red Cross as an A.R.C. Captain. During 1919 he relocated to Central Europe with the Friends' War Victims Relief Committee. In 1920, he was appointed Deputy Head of the European Student Relief of the World’s Student Christian Federation. As a painter he exhibited his art in Europe. He was married to Anna “Naunette” Dalmas (1868-1944), a wealthy American musician of French extraction, from Philadelphia, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. His infidelity (now proven and likely intentional), together with his unwillingness to return to his wife, was all used as evidence when his wife petitioned for a divorce. He abandoned Naunette following the birth of their young child, Nigel Dalmas Atheron Macalister-Smith. Documents from the British National Archives indicate that he fled to France whilst she remained in England.