Elliot Smith was born in Grafton in Northern NSW, but he is not remembered there, despite being a pioneering anatomist, authority on human evolution, a renowned archaeologist/anthropologist. He held chairs in Cairo, Manchester and University College, London. He was best known for his theory of cultural diffusion, placing Ancient Egypt as a dynamic source from which major elements of civilization were spread by the migration of people and values. This theory has been widely misrepresented. Americans in particular opposed ideas of foreign influence upon Mesoamerican cultures until recently. For a full account of his life and ideas see my 2012 book: Grafton Elliot Smith: Egyptology and the Diffusion of Culture (Sussex Press).