Arnold Henry Savage Landor (2 June 1865 – 26 December 1924) was an English painter, explorer, writer, and anthropologist. Landor wrote in an often witty style.

Life and career

Arnold H. S. Landor was born to Charles Savage Landor in Florence, Italy, where he spent his childhood. The writer

Walter Savage Landor Walter Savage Landor (30 January 177517 September 1864) was an English writer, poet, and activist. His best known works were the prose ''Imaginary Conversations,'' and the poem "Rose Aylmer," but the critical acclaim he received from contempora ...

was his grandfather. He left for Paris at age fifteen to study at the Académie Julian directed by

Gustave Boulanger Gustave Clarence Rodolphe Boulanger (25 April 1824 – 22 September 1888) was a French figurative painter and academic artist and teacher known for his Classical and Orientalist subjects. Education and career The Néo-Grecs and the Prix de Rom ...

and

Jules Lefebvre Jules Joseph Lefebvre (; 14 March 183624 February 1911) was a French figure painter, educator and theorist. Early life Lefebvre was born in Tournan-en-Brie, Seine-et-Marne, on 14 March 1836. He entered the École nationale supérieure des Be ...

. He then traveled the world, including America, Japan, and Korea, painting many landscapes and portraits. Upon his return to England, he was invited to Balmoral by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

to recount his adventures and show his drawings. He later traveled to Nepal and Tibet, telling of his experiences in two books: ''In the Forbidden Land'' (1898) and ''Tibet and Nepal'' (1905). When he learned about the Boxer Rebellion in China he went to Peking (now spelled Beijing) to join the victory parade, afterward writing ''China and the Allies'' (1901). In 1901 he traveled from Russia to India, riding on horseback through Persia, publishing the account of that journey in the book ''Across Coveted Lands'' (1902). A journey to the Philippine Islands resulted in another book: ''The Gems of the East'' (1904). During the 1900s he visited

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

and painted a portrait of the king

Menelik II , spoken = ; ''djānhoi'', lit. ''"O steemedroyal"'' , alternative = ; ''getochu'', lit. ''"Our master"'' (pl.) Menelik II ( gez, ዳግማዊ ምኒልክ ; horse name Abba Dagnew ( Amharic: አባ ዳኘው ''abba daññäw''); 17 ...

. Landor's book ''Across Widest Africa'' was published in 1906. During 1911 and 1912 he made an eventful expedition to the Mato Grosso in Brazil and in 1913 published ''Across Unknown South America''. He had an active role in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, designing tanks and airships. Eventually, he retired to write his autobiography in Florence, where he died in 1924. He is buried in the

English Cemetery, Florence The English Cemetery in Florence, Italy (Italian, ''Cimitero degli inglesi'', ''Cimitero Porta a' Pinti'' and ''Cimitero Protestante'') is an Evangelical cemetery located at Piazzale Donatello. Although its origins date to its foundation in 1827 ...

Works

* ''Alone with the Hairy Ainu'' (1893). * ''Corea or Cho-sen'' (1895). * ''In the Forbidden Land'' (1898). * ''China and the Allies'' (1901).
''Across Coveted Lands'' (1902).
* ''The Gems of the East'' (1904).
''Tibet and Nepal''
(1905). * ''The Living Races of Mankind'' (1905).
''Across Widest Africa''
(1907).
''An Explorer's Adventures in Tibet''
(1910).
''Across Unknown South America''
(1913). * ''Everywhere, the Memoirs of an Explorer'' (1924).

References

External links

* * 1865 births 1924 deaths English travel writers English male painters English explorers English anthropologists 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters 19th-century English male artists 20th-century English male artists {{England-painter-stub