Richard Francis Burton
Sir Richard Francis Burton KCMG FRGS was an English explorer, geographer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer, and diplomat. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary knowledge of languages and cultures. According to one count, he spoke 29 European, Asian and African languages.
Burton's best-known achievements include a well-documented journey to Mecca, in disguise at a time when Europeans were forbidden access on pain of death; an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights; the publication of the Kama Sutra in English; and a journey with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile.
Burton defied many aspects of the pervasive British ethnocentrism of his day, relishing personal contact with human cultures in all their variety. His works and letters extensively criticized colonial policies of the British Empire, even to the detriment of his career.
Burton's best-known achievements include a well-documented journey to Mecca, in disguise at a time when Europeans were forbidden access on pain of death; an unexpurgated translation of One Thousand and One Nights; the publication of the Kama Sutra in English; and a journey with John Hanning Speke as the first Europeans to visit the Great Lakes of Africa in search of the source of the Nile.
Burton defied many aspects of the pervasive British ethnocentrism of his day, relishing personal contact with human cultures in all their variety. His works and letters extensively criticized colonial policies of the British Empire, even to the detriment of his career.
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