Charles Forster Smith (June 30, 1852, in Abbeville County, South Carolina – August 3, 1931, in Racine, Wisconsin) was an American classical philologist, who focused on the ancient Greek historian Thucydides.
He then taught as a professor of Classical and German Philology at Wofford College (1875-1879).
In 1919, his colleagues published a commemorative publication in his honor at the University of Wisconsin.
Throughout his life, he endeavored to improve higher education in the United States, which had only enabled higher degrees in a few places during his own time as a student.
Smith's research focus was the Greek historian Thucydides, about whom he published scientific essays, selected editions, and finally a bilingual (Greek-English) edition in the Loeb Classical Library (1919-1923), which remained in use for a long time.