LEBEDEV, Gerasim Stepanovič (Herasim Lebedeff). Jaroslavl 1749 (not 1746) — St.Petersburg 15.7.(27.7.)1817. Russian Musician, Traveller and Pioneer of Indology. Son of Stepan L. and his wife Paraskov’a. Father was a poor Orthodox clergyman, who did not allow him to obtain higher education. The family moved to St.Petersburg, where he studied…
KNOX, Robert. London 8.2.1641 — Wimbledon, London 19.6.1720. British (Scottish) Traveller. In South Asia in 1657-94 (1659-79 prisoner in Ceylon). Son of Robert Knox, a Puritan and commander in E.I.C.’s service. Grew up in Wimbledon, Surrey. After mother’s death sailed with his father in January 1657 to Fort George. On…
KETELAAR, Joan Josua (Johann Joshua K., Kettler, Kessler). Elbing, East Prussia (now Elbląg in Poland) 25.12.1659 — Gamroon (Bandar Abbās) 12.5.1716. German Traveller. The eldest son of Josua Kettler, a bookbinder, apprenticed to the same craft, but accused for stealing and attempted murder of his master had to escape to…
KEPHALAS, Nikolaos (Nicola Chiefala di Zante; Νικόλαος Κεφαλᾶς). Zakynthos 1763 or 1770 — Constaninople 1847 or Thessaloniki 1850. Greek Traveller in India. Born in a noble, but poor family in Zakynthos, Ionian Islands, then Venetian domain. Captain, participated in the Greek revolution from its very beginning (but also said to…
HUMBOLDT, Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von. Berlin 14.9.1769 — Berlin 6.5.1859. German Geographer and Explorer. Son of the Prussian Kammerherr and Major Alexander Georg von Humboldt (1720–1779, his father Johannes Paul von Humboldt had obtained the Prussian title of nobility in 1738) and Marie Elisabeth von Holwede (a widow, née von…
HOUTMAN, Frederick de. Gouda 1571 — Alkmaar 21.10.1627. Dutch Traveller. Son of Pieter Cornelisz de Houtman, a brewer, and Agnes Frederiksd., younger brother of —> Cornelis de Houtman (1565–1599) and his companion in Lisbon and in Asian voyages. When the brother was killed he remained alive and was 26 months…
HOUTMAN, Cornelis de. Gouda 2.4.1565 —off Acheh 1.9.1599. Dutch Traveller in India. Son of Pieter Cornelisz de Houtman, a brewer, and Agnes Frederiksd., elder brother of —> Frederick de Houtman (1571–1627). With his brother remained in 1592-93 as merchant in Lisbon, spying on Asian trade for an Amsterdam company. They…
HONIGBERGER, Johann Martin. Kronstadt (now Braşov) 10.3.1795 — Kronstadt (Braşov) 18.12.1869. Transylvanian Traveller and Self-Made Physician in India. Born in a Saxonian Jewish family in Transylvania, attended the local Lyceum. Then chemist’s apprentice in Kronstadt and Bistritza and became a pharmacist. In 1815 he wandered through Bukovina, Moldova and Valachia…
HERBERT, Thomas. York 1606 — York 1.3.1682. Sir, First Baronet. British Traveller in Persia and India. Son of Christopher Herbert, a merchant, and Jane Akroyd, of an old Yorkshire family related to the Earls of Pembroke. Perhaps studied at both Oxford and Cambridge. In 1627 he joined the suite of…
HEDIN, Sven Anders. Stockholm 19.2.1865 — Stockholm 26.11.1952. Swedish Explorer and Central Asian Scholar. Made several journeys of exploration to Iran, Central Asia and Tibet. Son of Stadsarchitekt Abraham Ludvig Hedin (1826–1917) and Anna Sofia Carolina Berlin (1838–1925). Matriculated 1885 from Stockholm. In 1886-88 studied geology at Stockholm and Uppsala…