Sir Edmund Trelawny Backhouse, 2nd Baronet (20 October 1873 – 8 January 1944) was a British oriental scholar, Sinologist, and linguist whose work exerted a powerful influence on the Western view of the last decades of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). Since his death, however, it has been established that some of his sources were forged, though it is not clear how many or by whom. His biographer, Hugh Trevor-Roper, described him as "a confidence man with few equals." Derek Sandhaus of Earnshaw Books, the editor of Backhouse's memoirs, after consulting with specialists in the period, argues that Trevor-Roper was offended by Backhouse's homosexuality and that Backhouse's undoubted confabulation was mixed with plausible recollection of scenes and details.
Born |
Edmund Trelawny Backhouse 20 October 1873 Darlington, United Kingdom
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Died |
8 January 1944 (aged 70) Beijing, China
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Zodiac | Libra |
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