Difference between revisions of "Robert Baden-Powell"
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==Contribution to South African theatre and performance== | ==Contribution to South African theatre and performance== | ||
| − | Baden-Powell played the piano and violin, was an ambidextrous artist, enjoyed acting and was regarded as an excellent storyteller, who told "ripping yarns" to audiences. It is to be assumed then that he also participated in Garrison entertainments and performances while in South Africa. | + | Besides his military skills and role as author, Baden-Powell played the piano and violin, was an ambidextrous artist, enjoyed acting and was regarded as an excellent storyteller, who told "ripping yarns" to audiences. It is thus to be assumed then that he also participated in [[Garrison entertainments]] and performances while in South Africa. |
| − | One specific example of storytelling abilities is provided by his participation in a [[Smoking concert]] held for the two teams that had participated in what is reputed to be [[Smoking concert|The first official English/South African cricket test]] in 1888, when he gave an amusing talk on public entertainers. | + | One specific example of storytelling abilities is provided by his participation in a [[Smoking concert]] held for the two teams that had participated in what is reputed to be [[Smoking concert|The first official English/South African cricket test]] in 1888, when he gave an amusing talk on public entertainers. |
== Sources == | == Sources == | ||
Revision as of 04:57, 30 November 2021
Robert Baden-Powell (1857-)[1]
Biography
Born Robert Stephenson Smyth Powell in Paddington, London, on 22 February 1857, he attended Rose Hill School, Tunbridge Wells and was given a scholarship to Charterhouse, a prestigious public school. He entered the military in 1876, when he joined the 13th Hussars in India. Would go on to see service in various parts of the Empire, among which three postings in Southern Africa (in the early 1880s during the Zulu wars in Natal, in 1896 when he led reconnaissance missions into enemy territory during the Second Matabele War, and most famously during the Anglo-Boer War, when he and his forces held out for 217 days during Siege of Mafeking.) It was such experiences which led to his writing of a small manual, entitled Aids to Scouting (and many other similar publications later), and thence the founding of the international Boy Scout and Girl Scout movements (the latter with his sister, ). His manual, Scouting for Boys (published in 1908) would become the fourth best-selling book of the 20th century.
He was married to Olave St Clair Soames, and the couple had three children. Baden-Powell died on 8 January 1941 in Kenya.
For more on his military and scouting activities, see the Wikipedia entry on him at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Baden-Powell,_1st_Baron_Baden-Powell
Contribution to South African theatre and performance
Besides his military skills and role as author, Baden-Powell played the piano and violin, was an ambidextrous artist, enjoyed acting and was regarded as an excellent storyteller, who told "ripping yarns" to audiences. It is thus to be assumed then that he also participated in Garrison entertainments and performances while in South Africa.
One specific example of storytelling abilities is provided by his participation in a Smoking concert held for the two teams that had participated in what is reputed to be The first official English/South African cricket test in 1888, when he gave an amusing talk on public entertainers.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Baden-Powell,_1st_Baron_Baden-Powell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoking_concert
F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: p. 389.
Go to ESAT Bibliography
