Aleko Lilius

Aleko E. (Eugene) Lilius, (2 April, 1890 in Saint Petersburg, Russia – 24 June, 1977 in Helsinki, Finland [ One source, the [http://www.explorers.org/res_col/collections/deceased.pdf Explorers Club membership list] has 1950 for the date of death.] ) was an explorer, free-lance writer and photographer, variously described as an “English journalist,” “Russian-Finnish,” “an English writer of Finnish origins,” “a United States citizen of Finnish origin,” a “Swedish journalist and adventurer,” and an “intrepid American journalist.” A lawsuit involving Lilius in the Philippines in 1934 [ see http://www.asianlii.org/ph/cases/PHSC/1934/75.html] described him thusly:

Virtually all of Lilius' output as a writer is based on his wide-ranging travels in such places as China, Morocco, and Mexico. The first mention of Lilius as a writer is as the author of the script for the 1919 Finnish film "Venusta etsimässä eli erään nuoren miehen ihmeelliset seikkailut" (In search of Venus—or—the Marvelous Adventures of a Young Man). During the 1920s and 30s, Lilius functioned as foreign correspondent in Asia and North Africa. During the 1920s he worked with linguist Rudolf Schuller as a photographer in Mexico. In the 1950s he lived in Morocco. In the 1930s, Lilius lived in the United States, residing in the famous [http://www.josephpelllombardi.com/5homes/newoctagon.html Armour-Stiner Octagon house] in Irvington-on-Hudson in the state of New York. In 1958 he moved to Helsinki, Finland, and devoted himself to painting.

I Sailed with Chinese Pirates

Lilius is primarily remembered as the author of "I Sailed with Chinese Pirates." An account of the time he spent among pirates of the South China seas. The original review in the "New York Times" of 27 July 1931 reads in part:

The “mysterious woman pirate chief,” Lai Choi San, is widely believed to be the source inspiration for the character of the Dragon Lady, the oriental ‘’femme fatal’’ in Milton Caniff’s comic strip, "Terry and the Pirates". Although Lilius did not use the term “Dragon Lady” in his book—he referred to Lai Choi San as “Queen of the Pirates”— Caniff did, in fact, appropriate the Chinese name for his character. According to one source, this was the cause of a later legal dispute between Lilius and the syndicate that produced the comic strip, Terry and the Pirates. [ [http://www.arthur-ransome.org/ar/literary/lilius.htm] ]

A review of the later (1991) Oxford University Press reprint says that the book is a “ …a good read in the sensational nineteen-twenties style of journalism…briskly moving but somewhat superficial…”

Partial bibliography

* (1919) "Herr C.G's politiska affärer" Mr. C G's Political Affairs
* (in the 1920s) Extensive photography for the Rudolf Schuller Papers. These papers consist of field notes, vocabulary lists, manuscripts, and photos from Schuller's studies of a variety of Mexican and Central American Indian languages and dialects, with particular emphasis on the culture and language of the Huastecan Indians. The collection is now in the hands of the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University.
* (1928) "Min kinesiska Krigsbok" (My Chinese War Diary) Pub. Hökerbergs.
* (1931) "I sailed with Chinese Pirates"
* (1948) "The Romantic Thousand Islands, Their Towns and Times", Publisher: Holliday Publications Ltd., Canada.
* (1956) "Turbulent Tangier" [Lilius3] , an account of the money market and smuggling operations in post-war Tangier. The book was also published as "Lady Jaguar" and is a picture of a Morocco in transition during unstable French rule. Lilius comes across terrorists, encounters a Muslim reformer, traffick in jewels, etc. The title alludes to a somewhat shadowy smuggler queen in Tangiers, whom Lilius claims to have known personally.
* (1956) "Memorarerna Ung man i farten" (Memoirs: A Young Man's Journey)
* (1957) "Memorarerna Ett herrans liv" (Memoirs: A Gentleman's Life)
* (1962)"The Romantic Thousand Islands: Photographs - Maps – History", Publisher: Wallace.

* Also, Lilius published a number of free-lance articles in magazines such as "Argosy" (UK) (May 1947), ‘’Stag’’ (Feb 1952), Adventure Magazine (Jan 1953), The Wide World, (Sept, 1930, Publisher: George Newnes Ltd, London); and The Sphere Illustrated Newspaper (London), (July 4 1931), which was “…a brief sketch of the Sultan of Sulu, courted by the U.S. in an effort to defuse Moro hostility during its governance of the Philippines…”; and (1964) “The Sultan of Sulu tells how England ‘stole’ North Borneo.

External links

* [http://www.arthur-ransome.org/ar/literary/lilius.htm Excerpt from the Arthur Ransome website.]

References

*cite book
last = Lilius
first = Aleko E.
title = I sailed with Chinese Pirates
date = 1931 Oxford University Press
publisher = D. Appleton & Co
place = New York
id =

*cite book
last = Lilius
first = Aleko E.
title = I sailed with Chinese Pirates
year = 1991
publisher = Oxford University Press reprint
place = Hong Kong
id = ISBN 0195852974

*cite book
last = Lilius
first = Aleko E.
title = Turbulent Tangier
year = 1956
publisher = Elek Books
place = London
id = OCLC: 28756841

Notes