David Livingstone 1813 - 1873

occupation:
Explorer, Missionary
Nationality:
British; Scottish
born in:
Lanark, Scotland, United Kingdom

Famously the recipient of the supposed phrase 'Dr. Livingstone, I presume?' spoken by Henry Morton Stanley, on November 10, 1871, in Ujiji near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania. Livingstone gained a mythic status in Victorian England, which operated on a number of interconnected levels: that of Protestant missionary martyr, that of working-class "rags to riches" inspirational story, that of scientific investigator and explorer, that of imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader and advocate of commercial empire. He was the first European to see Mosi-oa-Tunya (Victoria Falls), to which he gave the English name in honour of his monarch, Queen Victoria.