
Wilbur Addison Smith (9 January 1933 – 13 November 2021) was a South African-British author. He mostly writes historical fiction books set in Southern Africa. His best known books include When the Lion Feeds, The Burning Shore, River God and The Seventh Scroll. He had three major book sets, The Courtney Novels, The Ballantyne Novels and the Ancient Egypt series. He wrote forty books, beginning in 1964. He had sold over 120 million copies in total.
Smith was born in Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia (now Kabwe, Zambia). He was educated in South Africa. He was married four times: the first two marriages ended in divorce, his third wife died of brain cancer in 1999, and married his last wife in 2000. He had four children. He lived in London and Cape Town, South Africa.
Smith died on 13 November 2021 at his home in Cape Town at the age of 88.