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EXPLORER

St John Philby

1885 - 1960

Photo of St John Philby

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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. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of St John Philby has received more than 527,883 page views. His biography is available in 17 different languages on Wikipedia. St John Philby is the 245th most popular explorer (down from 176th in 2019), the 14th most popular biography from Sri Lanka (down from 7th in 2019) and the most popular Sri Lankan Explorer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 530k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 52.58

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 17

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.92

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 2.21

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of St John Philbies by language


Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, St John Philby ranks 245 out of 405. Before him are Ma Huan, Francis Garnier, Jorge Álvares, Annie Londonderry, Vladimir Atlasov, and Thorvald Eiriksson. After him are Ingvar the Far-Travelled, Yerofey Khabarov, William Parry, Anthony Jenkinson, Nicolas Baudin, and Pieter Dirkszoon Keyser.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1885, St John Philby ranks 104. Before him are Francisco Bru, Liviu Rebreanu, Noman Çelebicihan, Josef Frank, Muslim Magomayev, and Anton Flettner. After him are Henri Laurens, Viggo Brun, Sophie, Princess of Albania, Alexander Shliapnikov, Tadeusz Kutrzeba, and Leó Weiner. Among people deceased in 1960, St John Philby ranks 82. Before him are Richard Wright, Prince Ferdinand Pius, Duke of Calabria, Wu Lien-teh, Gottfried, Prince of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Chris Bristow, and Jules Supervielle. After him are Hashim al-Atassi, Alexander Mountbatten, 1st Marquess of Carisbrooke, Maud Menten, Joseph Vendryes, Lottie Dod, and H. C. Hansen.

Others Born in 1885

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Others Deceased in 1960

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In Sri Lanka

Among people born in Sri Lanka, St John Philby ranks 14 out of 44. Before him are Aryadeva (200), Mahinda Rajapaksa (1945), Gotabaya Rajapaksa (1949), William Chester Minor (1834), Chandrika Kumaratunga (1945), and Michael Ondaatje (1943). After him are J. R. Jayewardene (1906), S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike (1899), John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher (1841), Maithripala Sirisena (1951), M. G. Ramachandran (1917), and William Gopallawa (1896).

Others born in Sri Lanka

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Among EXPLORERS In Sri Lanka

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

Sri Lankan born Explorers

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