Urquhart, David

Born in Cromarty ( Scotland ), Urquhart studied under the supervision of his widowed mother in France , Switzerland and Spain . In 1821 he returned to Britain and spent his free year before entering St. John's College (Cambridge) , studying farming and working for the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich . He never received a classical education, as his mother went bankrupt.

In 1827 , during the Greek Revolution , Urquhart joined the nationalists. Seriously wounded, he spent the next few years writing to the British government, in which he strongly supported the Greek side. Such self-nomination entailed his appointment in 1831 to the mission of Stratford Canning in Constantinople to establish the border between Greece and Turkey .

The main task of Urquhart was to provide all possible support to Reshid Pasha , a close adviser to Sultan Mahmoud II . He was increasingly attracted to Turkish civilization and culture, and he was increasingly alarmed by the threat of Russian intervention in the region. Urquhart’s campaign, which included the publication Turkey and Its Resources, eventually ended with his appointment in 1833 to a sales office in the region. He entered into such a trusting relationship with the government in Constantinople that he, on behalf of the Sultan, began openly asking for British intervention against Muhammad Ali of Egypt , which completely contradicted the policy pursued by Cunning. It was recalled by Palmerston immediately after the publication of the fiercely anti-Russian pamphlet "England, France, Russia and Turkey" ( eng. "England, France, Russia and Turkey" ), which introduced him into conflict with Richard Cobden .

In 1835, he was appointed secretary of the embassy in Constantinople, but an unsuccessful attempt to counter Russian intentions in Circassia , which threatened to lead to an international crisis, again led to his recall in 1837. In 1835, before leaving for the East, he opened a periodical called Portfolio , in the first issue of which he printed a series of Russian state documents that made a strong impression.

From 1847 to 1852 he was a member of parliament from Stafford , where he continued his energetic campaign against the foreign policy of Lord Palmerston.

England's actions in the Crimean War provoked outrageous protests from Urquard, who stated that Turkey was able to fight in its own battles without the help of other forces. In order to influence the government, he organized “ foreign affairs committees,” which became known as Urkvart, and in 1855 opened the publication “Free Press” ( English Free Press ; in 1866 it was renamed “ Diplomatic Review ”( English Diplomatic Review ), among the many subscribers of which was the socialist Karl Marx . In 1860, he published a book about Lebanon .

From 1864 until his death, Urquhart's health forced him to live on the Continent, where he devoted himself entirely to promoting the study of international law .

He married Harriet Angelina Fortescue , and they had three sons, one of whom, William, died at the age of thirteen months, and two daughters. She has written many articles in the Diplomatic Review under the pseudonym Caritas.

Urquhart promoted Turkish baths in the UK . He advocated their use in his book Hercules Pillars ( English Pillars of Hercules , 1850), which attracted the attention of the Irish physician Richard Barter . Barter introduced them to his hydrotherapy system in Blarney, County Cork . The Turkish baths on Jermin Street ( London ) were built under the direction of Urquhart.

• Taylor AJP The trouble makers: dissent over foreign policy, 1792-1939. - L .: Hamish Hamilton , 1957 .-- S. 207.

• Hamam
• Russophobia
• Eastern question
• Big game

• Urquhart's correspondence catalog on the Wellcome Institute website

• This article (section) contains text taken (translated) from the eleventh edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica , which went into the public domain .