1910-

British Explorer

Wilfred Patrick Thesiger was born in Abyssinia (present day Ethiopia) in 1910. His father was the British Minister in Addis Ababa, the capital city. The young Thesiger grew up among conditions of political turmoil. Murder and robbery were not uncommon in and around Addis Ababa, and as a child he witnessed many public floggings and hangings. For recreation he went on hunting trips with his father and brothers, and in 1918 he and his family took a short trip to India. By 1919, when he and his family moved to England, he had developed a taste for travel and adventure.

In England, Thesiger was educated in good schools. But, after their years in exotic Ethiopia, he and his brothers had difficulty adjusting to the relatively uneventful life of an English student. While at Oxford University, he was invited to return to Ethiopia...