Upcoming Event: Alexander Maitland speaks on T.E. Lawrence and Wilfred Thesiger

Wilfred Thesiger in a group with other Magdalen undergraduates in the cloisters, c. 1930. Magdalen College Archives O2/1/P6/66.

Wilfred Thesiger (1910-2003) was a student at Magdalen from 1929 to 1933, and later became a renowned explorer in the Middle East and the writer of Arabian Sands (1959) and The Marsh Arabs (1964). He was awarded the Lawrence of Arabia Memorial Medal in 1955.

Alexander Maitland was a close friend of Wilfred Thesiger with whom he published several books including Thesiger’s anthology, My Life and Travels (2002), and several volumes of photographs. Maitland went on write further books on Thesiger including Wilfred Thesiger: A Life in Pictures (2004) and the authorised biography Wilfred Thesiger: The Life of the Great Explorer (2006). He has also written on other British explorers including Freya Stark and John Hanning Speke.  His latest book is Exploring The World: Two Centuries of Remarkable Adventurers and Their Journeys (2022). In 2019, he was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Geographical Society.

Alexander Maitland, author photograph

The talk will be followed by a pop-up exhibition of material on Thesiger from our collections in the Old Library, with a further chance to see the Lawrence in Fragments exhibition.

The event, which will be in-person only, is completely free and light refreshments will be provided, but places are limited and there are only a small number remaining. If you would like to join us for this event, please let us know by emailing lucy.smith@magd.ox.ac.uk.

Picture credit for image of Thesiger:  © Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford (2004.130.17285.1)