CASTRO, João de. Lisbon 27.2.1500 — Goa 6.6.1548. Portuguese Nobleman, fourth Viceroy of Portuguese India. Second son of Álvaro de Castro, the civil governor of Lisbon, and Leonor de Noronha. Originally he was destined for a church career and studied for this, but when 18 he went to Tangier and…
CASTAGNÉ, Joseph-Antoine. Gaillac (Tarn) 27.11.1875 — Montpellier 19.1.1958. French Traveller, long time in Russian Central Asia (Uzbekistan). Studied in Toulouse (licence). From 1893 teacher of French in In Pjatigorskij and from 1902 in Orenburg near Kazakh Steppe, soon started a collection of antiquities. From 1912 as teacher in Tashkent actively…
BERTRAND, Gabrielle. Reims 29.3.1908 — Paris 16.2.1961. French Traveller, Reporter, Writer and Photographer. Of Lorraine, lost her father in WW I. Studied at a hospital in Paris, but did not pass medical examination. Then she worked in various tasks and decided to become reporter. In 1933-35 travelled in North Africa,…
BARKER, William Burckhardt. Aleppo, Syria 1810 — Sinope, Turkey 28.1.1856. British Traveller. Son of Consul-General John Barker (1771–1849) and Marianne Hays. In 1819 brought to England for education, in 1835 returned to Syria, later on resident in Tarsus. He travelled much in Levant, occasionally carrying diplomatic duties. Some time Professor…
VINCENZO MARIA DI SANTA CATERINA DA SIENA (lay Antonio Murchio di Bormio). Bormio, Lombardy 1626 — Rome 5.11.1679. Father. Italian Carmelite, Procurator of his order. In 1656 sent by Pope Alexander VII and Propaganda Fide to India to inspect Catholic mission in Goa and Kerala. Used land route via Turkey and Persia. Returned via Muskat to Rome…
VALENTIJN, François (Franciscus). Dordrecht 17.4.1666 — the Hague 6.8.1727. Dutch Priest and Naturalist. Son of school director Abraham V. and Maria Rijsbergen. Studied theology and philosophy at Leiden and Utrecht. From 1684 spent 16 years as minister in Dutch Indonesia, mainly in Ambon, where he befriended with Rumphius. After ten…
VAILLANT, Louis Auguste André Marie. Paris 26.11.1876 — Arras (Pas-de-Calais) 18.2.1963. French Army Physician, Naturalist and Explorer. Son of Léon Louis Vaillant (1834–1914), Professor of Zoology, and Henriette Jeanne Hovius. Studied medicine at Bordeaux, graduated 1902 and became physician in French colonial army. In 1906-08 he travelled with Pelliot and Nouette…
TORRENS, Henry D’Oyley. Meerut 24.2.1833 — London 1.12.1889. Sir. British Colonial Officer in India. Son of —> H. W. Torrens (1806–1852) and Eliza Mary Roberts (1808–1834). Joined army in 1849, Colonel 1864, Major-General 1869 and Lieutenant-General 1884. Served in Crimean war and 1857 uprising. Travels in Ladakh, etc. during the…
SCHÖNBERG, Wolf Erich, Baron von. Herzogswalde, Sachsen 30.4.1812 — Herzogswalde 14.5.1883. German Traveller. Son of Friedrich August Wolf von Schönberg (1780–1830) and Henriette von Bühnau (1784–1812, died in childbed). Studied forestry at the academies of Tharandt and Dreissigacker. Travelled in India and Persia in the 1840s, then also in Africa. Married 1854…
SALT, Henry. Lichfield, Staffordshire 14.6.1780 — Desouk 80 km east of Alexandria, Egypt 30.10.1827. British Diplomat, Traveller, Collector of Antiquities and Pioneer of Egyptology. Son of physician Thomas Salt and Alice Butt, educated in Lichfield, Market Bosworth and Birmingham. Trained as portrait-painter and went to London in 1797, but soon…