Maynard Owen Williams

Maynard Owen Williams (September 12, 1888 – June 1963) became the first National Geographic foreign correspondent in 1919. Over the course of his career, he explored Asia and witnessed the Russian Revolution. He died in Antalya, Turkey, and was buried in the Feriköy Protestant Cemetery located in Istanbul.

Maynard Owen Williams, 1930

In 1923, he witnessed the public opening of King Tut's Tomb in the Kingdom of Egypt, then a British protectorate.[1]

In 1931, he participated in the Croisière Jaune (Yellow Expedition) of Georges-Marie Haardt for the Citroën company and travelled to Afghanistan and British India.[2]

In his own words a "camera-coolie and a roughneck," Williams pioneered the field of travel photography. The Maynard Owen Williams Prize for creative nonfiction at Kalamazoo College is named in his memory.