Edward Harold Stuart Simmonds (1919–1994) was a British linguist and professor of the languages and literatures of South East Asia at SOAS University of London.
[1][2] Born in England, Stuart Simmonds was an academic based at SOAS between 1948 and 1982, who specialized in the language and history of the Thai people.
Despite the conditions, it was this experience which first sparked an interest in Thai culture, which he pursued after returning to England in the post-war period.
Simmonds played a central role in establishing the study of Tai languages, literature and culture at the university level in post-war Britain.
This role was publicly acknowledged when, in 1988, the King of Thailand appointed him Commander of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant.