Percy Ellen Algernon Frederick William Sydney Smythe, 8th Viscount Strangford (26 November 18259 January 1869) was a British nobleman and man of letters.

Early life

He was born in St Petersburg, Russia, the son of the

6th Viscount Strangford 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, the

British Ambassador The Heads of British diplomatic missions are persons appointed as senior diplomats to individual nations, or international organisations. They are usually appointed as ambassadors, except in member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations wh ...

Ottoman Turkey The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, Sweden, and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

. During all his earlier years Percy Smythe was nearly blind, in consequence, it was believed, of his mother having suffered hardship on a journey up the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...

in wintry weather shortly before his birth. His education began at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (sc ...

, whence he went to

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

. He excelled as a linguist, and was nominated by the vice-chancellor of Oxford in 1845 as a student-attache at

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

Career

While at Constantinople, where he served under

Lord Stratford de Redcliffe Stratford Canning, 1st Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe, (4 November 1786 – 14 August 1880) was a British diplomat who became best known as the longtime British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. A cousin of George Canning, he served as Envoy E ...

, Smythe gained a mastery not only of Turkish and its dialects, but of the forms of

modern Greek Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the ...

. He had already a good knowledge both of Persian and Arabic before going east. It was the study of Ottoman history that led him to the languages of the

Balkan peninsula The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the whol ...

. On succeeding his

brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-famil ...

as Viscount Strangford in 1857 he continued to live in Constantinople, immersed in cultural studies. At length, however, he returned to England and wrote a good deal, sometimes in the '' Saturday Review'', sometimes in the ''

Quarterly Review The ''Quarterly Review'' was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by London publishing house John Murray. It ceased publication in 1967. It was referred to as ''The London Quarterly Review'', as reprinted by Leonard Scott, f ...

'', and often in the ''

Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed i ...

''. A rather severe review in the first of these, of the ''Egyptian Sepulchres and Syrian Shrines'' of Emily Anne Beaufort (1826–1887), led to the marriage of the reviewer and the author. Lord Strangford wrote the final chapter, "Chaos", in his wife's book on the ''Eastern Shores of the Adriatic''. It gained him a reputation with students of foreign politics. Percy Smythe was president of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

in 1861–64 and 1867–69.

Personal life

In 1862, Smythe was married to the illustrator and writer, Emily Anne Beaufort (1826–1887), the daughter of

Sir Francis Beaufort Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort (; 27 May 1774 – 17 December 1857) was an Irish hydrographer, rear admiral of the Royal Navy, and creator of the Beaufort cipher and the Beaufort scale. Early life Francis Beaufort was descended ...

. On his death in 1869 his titles became extinct. ''A Selection from the Writings of Viscount Strangford on Political, Geographical and Social Subjects'' was edited by his widow and published in 1869. His ''Original Letters and Papers upon Philology and Kindred Subjects'' were also edited by Lady Strangford (1878).See via Internet Archive

Honours

The future

national poet A national poet or national bard is a poet held by tradition and popular acclaim to represent the identity, beliefs and principles of a particular national culture. The national poet as culture hero is a long-standing symbol, ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Mac ...

Ivan Vazov Ivan Minchov Vazov ( bg, Иван Минчов Вазов; – 22 September 1921) was a Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright, often referred to as "the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature". He was born in Sopot, a town in the Rose Valley ...

, eulogises his name and deeds in several of his poems written in 1876, following the

April uprising The April Uprising ( bg, Априлско въстание, Aprilsko vastanie) was an insurrection organised by the Bulgarians in the Ottoman Empire from April to May 1876. The regular Ottoman Army and irregular bashi-bazouk units brutally ...

and the Turkish atrocities in

Rumelia Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the Romans", at the time meaning Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians from the Byzantine rite, was the name of a hi ...

, including one dedicated to his wife, Lady Strangford. The Australian botanist,

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (german: Müller; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Vic ...

named the species of flowering plant ''

Goodenia strangfordii ''Goodenia strangfordii'', commonly known as wide-leaved goodenia in the Northern Territory, is a species of flowering plant in the family Goodeniaceae and is endemic to northern Australia. It is an erect herb with narrow elliptic to lance-shape ...

'' in his honour.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Strangford, Percy Smythe, 8th Viscount 1826 births 1869 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Merton College, Oxford Viscounts in the Peerage of Ireland Presidents of the Royal Asiatic Society British people of Dutch descent