Friday, November 13, 2015

Born Today November 13: Robert Louis Stevenson


1850-1894

Scottish born writer Robert Louis Steveson's fanciful stories were fodder for the earliest narrative adaptations as soon as film was long enough to include at least the basics of a short story, novelette or novel.  He was born in Edinburgh.  The very first adaptation of his work is unsurprisingly Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1908 and was a whopping 16 minutes in time length (long for the time).  Unfortunately, it is probably a lost film.  He died, probably of a massive cerebral hemorrhage, on 3 December in Viliama, Somoa; he was only 44 years of age.  He was beloved by the Samoan people who guarded his body until his burial on sacred Mt. Vaea, where a tomb was eventually erected over his grave.  

A very early Daguerreotype photo of him as a child. 




His original native burial.

Old postcard of his tomb

Modern Photo

The Samoan song "Under The Wild And Starry Sky" translated into English from the Native Samoan

No comments:

Post a Comment