Joanna Harcourt-Smith
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Born | 13 January 1946 St. Moritz, Switzerland |
Died | 11 October 2020 (Age 74) Santa Fe, New Mexico |
Nationality | US |
Spouse | • Nico Tambacopoulou • John d'Amécourt • Timothy Leary • Jose Luis Gomez Sole |
Relatives | • Árpád Plesch • Arpad Busson |
Psychedelic activist |
Joanna Harcourt-Smith was an author, poet, psychedelic activist and the founder of Future Primitive Podcast.
Personal life
She was born at the Palace Hotel, St. Moritz, in Switzerland.[1] She was the granddaughter of Sir Cecil Harcourt-Smith and the stepdaughter of financier Árpád Plesch,[2] and the aunt of financier Arpad Busson.
She wrote of Plesch and his family:
“Much later, I was to learn that my family had a complete lack of values, their genetic memories of belonging burnt away by greed and hatred through the brain damage that occurs from not receiving the proper kind of care and loving in infancy. Generations of neglect by parents for their young had created a group of ruthless monsters that by the year 2.000 were to rule the world spreading famine and disease throughout the African continent, extreme poverty to South America while the other animal worlds disappeared at an alarming speed...”
Joanna Harcourt-Smith [3]
In 1966 Harcourt-Smith married Nico Tambacopoulou in a ceremony that was attended by Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco, and actor William Holden. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1971 she married John d'Amécourt and later divorced.[4]
She had 3 children, Lara Tambacopoulou, Alexis d'Amecourt, and Marlon Gobel.[4]
Harcourt-Smith spoke five languages, speaking three very well and two well enough to build relationships.[1]
She died on 11 October 2020 at the age of 74, at her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico[5] surrounded by her children and her partner, Jose Luis Gomez Soler.[4]
Work
Harcourt-Smith wrote two unpublished biographies and many poems.[6] She is also the author of Tripping the Bardo with Timothy Leary: My Psychedelic Love Story. The book recounts her experiences while "she was a flower-power teenager in the Sixties," lived with the Rolling Stones in France, cavorted with playboy Gunter Sachs, Salvador Dalí and the Aga Khan, before falling in love with Timothy Leary in 1972.
Although they were never legally married, Tripping the Bardo with Timothy Leary describes Harcourt-Smith's experiences as Timothy Leary's "common-law wife" between 1972 and 1977, a period that spanned the divide between his fourth and fifth marriages. They met while he was a fugitive in Europe, and from there the pair traveled to Afghanistan together. He was arrested in Afghanistan and the couple was extradited to California. While in the U.S., Harcourt-Smith advocated for Leary's release during his four-year imprisonment. Following his release they entered the Witness Protection Program.[7]
My Psychedelic Love Story, a documentary by acclaimed American writer, filmmaker and director Errol Morris based on Harcourt Smith's book, was released on Showtime on 29 November 2020.
On her weekly podcast, Future Primitive, Harcourt-Smith had over 400 interviews archived beginning in 2006. The interviews focused on preserving oral traditions and uniting emergent communities for a future that honors the planet.[8] Harcourt-Smith interviewed prominent thinkers of our times, visionaries, authors, psychedelic researchers and scholars.
References
- ↑ a b https://web.archive.org/web/20181025105130/http://www.wisewomanradio.com/interviews/smith.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200814004144/https://boingboing.net/2017/08/30/interview-with-timothy-leary-a.html
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20150402200824/http://h2oreuse.blogspot.it/2009/01/plesch-saga.html
- ↑ a b c https://epaper.thetimes.co.uk/search?query=Joanna%20Harcourt-Smith&in=ALL&date=Anytime&hideSimilar=0
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20181025105154/https://santafe.com/blogs/read/my-book-report-tripping-the-bardo-with-timothy-learymy-psychedelic-love-sto
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140731152029/https://www.jointheselfcarerevolution.com/speakers/month-9-power-of-community/september-10-2013/
- ↑ https://dyingtoknowmovie.com/blog/details/21256/the-psychdelia-podcast-interview-with-gay-dillngham
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20181025105239/https://www.marioninstitute.org/greenhouse-initiatives/future-primitive/
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