FINCH, William. 15?? — Baghdad ?.8.1613. British Merchant and Traveller in India. Native of London. He came to Surat with Hawkins in 1608 and had to stay there because of an illness, but joined later Hawkins in spring 1610 at Jahangir’s court and spent one and a half year in…
FERGUSON, Donald William. Colombo 8.10.1853 — Croydon near London 29.6.1910. British (Scottish) Journalist and Scholar of Sri Lankan History (especially of Colonial Period). Son of —> Alastair M. F. (d. 1892) and Anne Mackerras. The father came to Ceylon in 1837, was a long time the chief proprietor and editor…
FEDERICI, Cesare de (Fedrici). Erbanno (Brescia) c. 1530 — 1600/03. Italian (Venetian) Merchant and Traveller in India. Left Venice in 1567 (Charpentier & Lach 1563, long stay in the Near East), travelled via Aleppo and Basra to Ormuz, by ship to Diu and Goa. From Goa he went by land…
FALCONER, Hugh. Forres, Moray 29.2.1808 — London 31.1.1865. British (Scottish) Physician, Botanist, Palaeontologist, Geologist and Traveller in India. Son of David Falconer and Isabel Mackrae, educated at Forres and Aberdeen University. M.D. 1829 Edinburgh. Joined the E.I.C.’s medical service in Bengal in 1830, succeeded Royle in 1832 as Superintendent of…
EVANS-WENTZ, Walter Yeeling (born Wentz, added his mother’s surname c. 1910). Trento, N.J. 2.2.1878 — Encinitas, Calif. 17.7.1966. U.S. Traveller, Anthropologist and Tibetologist. Son of Christopher Wentz, a wealthy estate owner from New Jersey with German origin, and Mary Evans Cook, of Irish descent. Originally Baptist, his father turned to…
ELIAS, Ney. Widmore, Bromley, Kent 10.2.1844 — London 31.5.1897. British Diplomat and Explorer. Son of Ney Elias, a merchant with Jewish background, and his wife Sophia, educated in London, Paris and Dresden. “Went to Shanghai in a merchant’s firm in 1866, led an expedition in 1868 to examine the channels…
DUTREUIL DE RHINS, Jules-Léon. Saint-Étienne (Loire) 2.1.1846 — Tong-mbon-ndo in Kham 5.6.1894. French Marine Officer, Cartographer, Traveller and Explorer. Son of Jean-Denis D. de R. and Jeanne Félicité Blondart. Born in the Loire area, joined early the navy. In the 1870s captain. In 1876 he commanded the detachment of sixty…
DESVAULX, Nicolas-Jacques, baron d’Oinville. Chandernagor 28.3.1745 — Paris 9.7.1817. French Officer in India. Son of an officer working in India for the French Company, grew up in Paris. In 1762 he joined the army and after a few years was sent according to his own wish to India. In 1778…
DELLA VALLE, Pietro. Rome 11.4.1586 — Rome 21.4. or 11.4.1652. Italian (Roman) Traveller in Iran and India. Born in aristocratic family, son of Pompeo D. V. and Giovanna Alberini, had good education. In his youth served as a soldier. According to his own account left Rome because of an unhappy…
DE GUBERNATIS, Angelo. Turin 7.4.1840 — Rome 26.12.1913. Count. Italian Indologist. Professor in Florence and Rome. Born in a noble family, son of Giambattista De G., a revenue official, and Maria Cleofe Turchetti; his brother was the diplomat and geographer Enrico De G. (1836–1914), his sister the educator Teresia De…