Gerald de Gaury

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Gerald de Gaury MC (1897 - 1984) was a British military officer, Arabist, explorer, historian and diplomat.

He was the British political agent in Kuwait in the 1930s.

He organized and took part in the official visit of Sir Andrew Ryan to Riyadh in November 1935, to present Ibn Sa'ud with the Order of the Bath.

de Gaury was a fluent Arabic speaker and spent much time hunting with Ibn Sa'ud during his wartime assignment to the Nejd and Asir. In his day he was a foremost authority on the region and wrote a number of books on the region in later life.

An enthusiastic and skilled photographer, de Gaury is responsible for a large proportion of the photographs of the Arabian Peninsular from this period.

He was a close friend of Freya Stark and Lesley Blanch, who said of him:

"He spoke beautiful Arabic, and could talk Arabic lore. Living among, and as one of, the royal household in Arabia, he knew a great deal and could tell you marvellous legends."

[edit] References

• Eid Al Yahya, Travellers in Arabia, (Stacey International, 2006). ISBN 9780955219313

[edit] Works

• Arabian Journeys and Other Desert Travels, (1950)
• Arabia Phoenix, (Kegan Paul, 1946). ISBN 0710306776
• Faisal, King of Saudi Arabia, (Praeger, 1967). ASIN B0007DUTRE
• Rulers of Mecca, (AMS Press, 1954). ISBN 9780404165178