James Bruce ( 1730 - 1794 )

Birth: Kinnaird, Stirlingshire, Scotland (14 December 1730) Death: 27 April 1794 Explorer, archaeologist and linguist Research Field: Exploration Education: Harrow School Career: Wine merchant, London (1754-1761); Spent six months in Italy where he had his portrait painted by Batoni (1762); travelled subsequently to North Africa, Crete, Syria, Egypt and eventually Abyssinia [Ethiopia]; Consul General, Algiers (1763-1765). in 1768 he journeyed to Abyssinia by the Nile, Aswan, the Red Sea and Massowah.