Ben Smits was a Dutch piano pedagogue. He was born in Amsterdam on 6 November 1929 and died in Heerenveen on 5 March 2008.
He received his first piano lessons at the age of five from Roelof Krol, a pianist, cellist, and later conductor of the Radio Chamber Orchestra. From 1950, Smits was among a select group of pianists, alongside the noted piano teacher Jan Wijn, to study with the Dutch pedagogue Cornelius Berkhout. He also took lessons with Clara Haskil and Béla Síki, who had himself studied with Dinu Lipatti. During this period, Smits made several radio recordings in Switzerland and the Netherlands.
From 1955, Smits taught principal-study piano at the conservatory department of the Amsterdam Music Lyceum. In 1963, at the invitation of the Sticusa Foundation, he helped establish a music school in Curaçao and became its director. He organized a number of cultural projects there and remained on the island until mid-1971.
From 1971, Smits was for many years director of the De Rinkelbom music school in Heerenveen. In 1975 he became a principal-study piano teacher at the Zwolle Conservatory. Although he retired in 1996, he continued to advise Dutch and international pianists regularly.
Smits performed in many countries as a soloist and accompanist, including for violinist Jo Juda, concertmaster of the Concertgebouw Orchestra. He also formed a piano duo with his wife, Greta Lang. Among the generations of pianists he trained were Jeroen Riemsdijk, Tjako van Schie, and Jan Roelof Wolthuis. With Albert Brussee, he edited Cornelius Berkhout's literary estate, resulting in the publication of Berkhout's book The Art of Piano Playing.