This week marks
200 years since the birth of Sir Richard Burton, in full Sir
Richard Francis Burton, (born March 19, 1821, Torquay, England—died October 20, 1890, Trieste Italy.
He was an English
scholar-explorer and Orientalist who was the first European to discover Lake Tanganyika and to penetrate hitherto-forbidden
Muslim cities. He published 43 volumes on his explorations and almost 30
volumes of translations, including an unexpurgated translation of The Arabian Nights and the Karma Sutra.
He may have spent his life
exploring exotic places, brothels, temples and hidden cities but Robert Burton
is laid to rest in a quiet corner of South West London in the graveyard of the
Catholic church of St Mary Magdalene, Mortlake.
But his grave is unmissable in this little churchyard. It is in the form
of a Bedouin tent and his tomb and that of his wife can be seen though a window
at the back.
