Philip Smith was born in the 'out port' of Fortune on the south coast of Newfoundland in 1927. After schooling there, he attended universities in Canada, France and the United States and obtained a Ph.D. in anthropology from Harvard University in 1962. His first career was in the business world in Montreal. Later he was a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Toronto and until his recent retirement, the University of Montreal. He currently resides in Montreal and continues his research in several fields of anthropology and history. For several years he has been studying the practice of seasonal migration among the early and recent settlers of Newfoundland and Labrador.