George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, KG, GCSI, GCIE, PC (1859-1925) was a British Conservative statesman who served as Viceroy of India and Foreign Secretary. He had travelled around the world: Russia and Central Asia (1888-9), a long tour of Persia (1889-90), Siam, French Indochina and Korea (1892), and a daring foray into Afghanistan and the Pamirs (1894), and published several books describing central and eastern Asia and related policy issues. A bold and compulsive traveller, fascinated by oriental life and geography, he was awarded the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his exploration of the source of the Oxus. Upon his father's death in 1916, he became 5th Baron Scarsdale, in the Peerage of Great Britain. His works include: Russia in Central Asia in 1889 and the Anglo-Russian Question (1889), Persia and the Persian Question (1892), Problems of the Far East (1894), The Romanes Lecture (1907) and Tales of Travel (1923).