Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890) was a notorious swordsman of the Victorian era. While at Trinity, the half-Irish Burton killed another student in a duel for mocking his moustache. Burton learned 29 languages and became proficient in fencing. During an expedition to Africa, he was impaled with a native spear, the point entering one cheek and exiting the other, and leaving a scar that can be seen in this photo. Burton authored a number of important texts on the sword (including Sword & Bayonet Exercises, a classic book on the history of the Sword, and his "Sentiment of the Sword" about fencing) and translated a number of important Eastern cultural and mythological texts. A scholar, spy, and world explorer, he also had an interest in the occult, native sexual practices, drugs, runes, snake charming, was initiated into an esoteric Sufi brotherhood, as well as into a Hindu sect, all of which made him a subject of controversy and fascination in his time.
