EXPLORER

St John Philby

1885 - 1960

Photo of St John Philby

Icon of person St John Philby

Harry St John Bridger Philby, CIE (3 April 1885 – 30 September 1960), also known as Jack Philby or Sheikh Abdullah (Arabic: الشيخ عبدالله), was a British Arabist, advisor, explorer, writer, and a colonial intelligence officer who served as an advisor to King Abdulaziz ibn Saud, the founder of Saudi Arabia. As he states in his autobiography, he "became something of a fanatic" and in 1908 "the first Socialist to join the Indian Civil Service". After studying Oriental languages at the University of Cambridge, he was posted to Lahore in the Punjab in 1908, acquiring fluency in Urdu, Punjabi, Baluchi, Persian and eventually Arabic. He converted to Islam in 1930 and later became an adviser to Ibn Saud, urging him to unite the Arabian Peninsula under Saudi rule, and helping him to negotiate with the United Kingdom and the United States when petroleum was discovered in 1938. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. St John Philby is the 246th most popular explorer (down from 163rd in 2019), the 13th most popular biography from Sri Lanka (down from 9th in 2019) and the most popular Sri Lankan Explorer.

Memorability Metrics

Loading...

Page views of St John Philby by language

Loading...

Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, St John Philby ranks 246 out of 498. Before him are Olivier van Noort, Jimmie Angel, Louise Arner Boyd, Tristão Vaz Teixeira, Vladimir Atlasov, and Nikolaus Federmann. After him are Yerofey Khabarov, Dmitry Laptev, Jan Czerski, Francisco Serrão, Friedrich Welwitsch, and Diego de Almagro II.

Most Popular Explorers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 1885, St John Philby ranks 97. Before him are Karl Genzken, Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Milan Vidmar, Noman Çelebicihan, Alexandros Koryzis, and Iuliu Hossu. After him are Jerome Kern, Dezső Kosztolányi, Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy, Antonio Bacci, Frank Knight, and Leó Weiner. Among people deceased in 1960, St John Philby ranks 79. Before him are Noël Bas, Jules Supervielle, Henny Porten, Princess Xenia of Montenegro, Sibilla Aleramo, and Hans Albers. After him are Erwin Jaenecke, Véra Clouzot, Auguste Herbin, Dirk Jan de Geer, Leó Weiner, and Ioannis Georgiadis.

Others Born in 1885

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1960

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In Sri Lanka

Among people born in Sri Lanka, St John Philby ranks 13 out of 51. Before him are Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877), Tony Hoare (1934), Anagarika Dharmapala (1864), Mahinda Rajapaksa (1945), Aryadeva (200), and Malcolm Ranjith (1947). After him are Michael Ondaatje (1943), S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike (1899), Jack Churchill (1906), Maithripala Sirisena (1951), D. S. Senanayake (1883), and William Chester Minor (1834).

Others born in Sri Lanka

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among EXPLORERS In Sri Lanka

Among explorers born in Sri Lanka, St John Philby ranks 1. 

Sri Lankan born Explorers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous