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David Livingstone

Scottish missionary and explorer (1813-1873) · United Kingdom · Historical Figures · Died at 60

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A Scottish missionary who disappeared into the African interior for years, chasing the source of the Nile not for glory but as leverage - he believed solving the mystery would give him the platform to dismantle the East African slave trade.

Historical FiguresScientistChemistryLiteratureUnited KingdomEurope19th Century

A life in dates

1873Died1 May 18731871“Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”In their words27 October 1871Henry Morton Stanley, spoken on 27 October, 1871, in Ujiji near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania. (Elsewhere said to have occurred

1869“July 29, 1869. - Went two and a half hours west to village of Ponda, where a head Arab, called by the natives 'Tipo Tipo' lives; bis name is Hamid bin Mohammed bin Juma Borajib.”In their words29 July 1869Five Years with the Congo Cannibals, Page 168 Last Journals, page 182

1858Fellow of the Royal SocietyAward1857“People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa.”In their words4 December 1857Speech to students at Cambridge University (4 December 1857)

Grande Médaille d'Or des ExplorationsAward1855Patron’s MedalAward1813Born19 March 1813

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

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In their own words 9

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David Livingstone
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9 statements, newest first

  1. Dr. Livingstone, I presume?

    Oct 27, 1871, Henry Morton Stanley, spoken on 27 October, 1871, in Ujiji near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania. (Elsewhere said to have occurred, Own words

  2. July 29, 1869. - Went two and a half hours west to village of Ponda, where a head Arab, called by the natives 'Tipo Tipo' lives; bis name is Hamid bin Mohammed bin Juma Borajib.

    Jul 29, 1869, Five Years with the Congo Cannibals, Page 168 Last Journals, page 182, Own words

  3. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa.

    Dec 4, 1857, Speech to students at Cambridge University (4 December 1857), Own words

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Awards

Fellow of the Royal Society1858
Grande Médaille d'Or des Explorations1857
Patron’s Medal1855
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society

Family

David Livingstone

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About this person

Livingstone left the mills of Scotland for medical training and missionary work with the London Missionary Society, marrying into the Moffat missionary dynasty. His exploration of central Africa's watershed became the final act of Europe's classic age of geographical discovery, but he framed it instrumentally: find the Nile's source, gain influence, kill the Arab-Swahili slave trade. He vanished for years. When he died in Africa on 1 May 1873, Britain turned him into a posthumous national hero - working-class boy made good, martyr to the cause - and his death launched a wave of Christian missions into the continent just as the Scramble for Africa began carving it into European colonies.

Country
United Kingdom
Category
Historical Figures
Type
Historical Figure
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1813 to 1873 · aged 60

Historical Figures from the United Kingdom 6

Edward III of England66.7William IV of the United Kingdom66.2Henry VII of England66.9Robert Falcon Scott66.1Alfred the Great67.1William Wallace66.0

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