Biography of Adam Smith

Adam Smith was born around the 5th of June, 1723.  His father was a lawyer and he died about two months after young Adam was born.  He was very close with his mother who encouraged him to study and read.  (At some point I'll go back and see how many of the Great Books authors came from well-to-do families.  The vast majority to this point.)  Apparently he was abducted by Gypsies (!) when he was four but was quickly rescued. 
He started university studies in Glasgow but was awarded a scholarship to go to one of the Oxford colleges.  Smith thought that the atmosphere in Glasgow was better for study.  In Book five of  'Wealth of Nations' he wrote, "In the University of Oxford, the greater part of the public professors have, for these many years, given up altogether even the pretence of teaching." 
In 1748, he was back in Glasgow and giving lectures.  There he met David Hume, and the two became very close.  In short time he became a full professor and a member of the Philosophical Society of Edinburgh.  Smith later saw this academic period as one of the most productive times of his life. 
In 1759, Smith published 'Theory of Moral Sentiments' and it made him an intellectual star.  He continued to teach and tutor.  His tutoring led him to travel throughout Europe and that meant Smith had an opportunity to rub shoulders with various intellectuals in Paris.  This included meeting Benjamin Franklin.  It was here that Smith met with some French economists, who greatly influenced his thinking.
Smith published 'An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations' in 1776.  It was an instant success.  Two years later he was given a post in Scotland.  He returned there and died in 1790.  On his deathbed, he had regrets that he hadn't accomplished more.