London-born British soldier, sixth son of an Oxford ecclesiastical, founder of Scouting (1908) and with his sister Agnes (1858 - 1945) from the Girl Guides, the Girl Guides (1910). He wrote many books and articles for Boy Scouts and also on war campaigns, and became an MP (1847). Sixth of seven, the son of an ecclesiastical professor at Oxford, he lost his father at the age of three. Raised by his mother, he studied at a public school called Charterhouse in London, where he was very popular and dear to everyone, colleagues and teachers, and since his childhood he showed great love for adventure and nature. He finished his secondary education (1876) and joined the army, where he became a career officer and traveled extensively, especially Africa and North America.
He was in the Transval War (1899) successfully and popularly commanding the young defense garrison of the strategic city of Mafeking. The performance of young people in the performance of their tasks, their examples of education, loyalty, courage and responsibility, fostered in their commander the first ideals of Scouting. Promoted to the rank of Major General, he released his book Aids to Scouting which contained teachings on camping and surviving in the wilderness. Initially aimed at army explorers, it was so successful that the author rewrote a special version for young audiences. During a trip through the countryside of England, he saw some boys using a book he had written in their games.
Talking to his friends, he got excited and decided to carry out (1907), on the island of Brownsea, a camp with 20 boys aged 12 to 16 years, where he taught a lot of important things: first aid, observation, safety techniques for city and city life. Forest. Due to the good results of this camp, he began writing the book Scouting for Young Men, which was initially published in six biweekly issues and sold on newsstands. English young people were so enthusiastic about his book that he decided to organize and found the Scout Movement (1908). Scouting quickly spreads to several countries around the world. Two years later there were already 123,000 scouts spread across the nations that were part of the British Empire.
Its creator then decided to leave the army definitively (1910) to dedicate himself exclusively to the Scout Movement. In Brazil, Scouting was initially founded in the city of Rio de Janeiro (1910), introduced in Brazil through the sailors and naval officers, who brought with them Scout uniforms and the interest in sowing the scout movement in the Brazil. On June 14, the Boys Scouts Center of Brazil was officially founded in what is now the capital of Rio de Janeiro. Four years after the movement's founding (1912), the year he married Olave St. Clair Soames, the English Crown recognized its usefulness. of this organization, which provided relevant services to the country during the two world wars, collaborating in the mobilization and assistance.
The first international camp the Boy Scouts call the Jamboree was held in England (1920), with the participation of 20,000 young people present, representing 32 countries, who acclaimed him as Scout Leader World. He traveled the world together with his wife, founding Boy Scout and Girl Scout associations in several countries, until he withdrew due to health (1938) for their small property, surrounded by nature and which they named paxtu or paz for two, near the city of Nairobi, in the Kenya.
There, in the company of his wife and faithful secretary Olave, he spent the rest of his life dividing his time between painting, his numerous correspondences and visits from his friends, until he died in Nyeri, Kenya, in the early morning of January 8th (1941), at the age of 83, while he was sleeping, and was buried in the same place where he lived his last days. years old. There are currently more than 30 million Boy Scouts around the world. The Air Scouting modality, unlike the other two conventional sports, Basic and Sea, had its origins here in Brazil, being its main creator and supporter Major-Brigadier Godofredo Vidal.
Picture copied from the PINE TREE WEB website
http://www.pinetreeweb.com/
Source: http://www.dec.ufcg.edu.br/biografias/
Order R - Biography - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/biografia/robert-stephenson-smyth.htm