David Simmons

David Roy Simmons (6 September 1930 – 30 November 2015), also known as Rawiri Te Puru Terehou, was a New Zealand ethnologist, historian and author.

Early life and family Born in Auckland on 6 September 1930, Simmons was educated at Sacred Heart College, Auckland. He went on to study at Auckland Teachers' College from 1948 to 1950, Auckland University College from 1949 to 1950, and Victoria University College in 1951.

Simmons was a co-curator and a member of the organising committee for the international exhibition Te Maori, which toured the United States and New Zealand from 1984 to 1987. Simmons also contributed to the exhibition's catalogue. He served as a council member of the Otago Institute, the Polynesian Society and the New Zealand Archaeological Association, and as secretary of the Umupuia Marae Trust.

Simmons also edited: J.D.H. Buchanan's The Māori History and Place Names of Hawke's Bay (1973) George Graham's Maori Place Names of Auckland (first published 1980). and in 2013 he was awarded the Auckland Museum Medal and appointed an associate emeritus of Auckland War Memorial Museum. His ashes were buried at Purewa Cemetery in Auckland with those of his wife, Winifred Simmons, who predeceased him in 2003.