Philip Graves

:"For the Vertigo Comics character, see:" Agent Graves.Philip Perceval Graves (February 25 1876 – June 3 1953) was a British journalist and writer. While working as a foreign correspondent of "The Times" in Constantinople, he exposed "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" as an antisemitic plagiarism, fraud, and Hoax.

Born in Ballylickey Manor, Cork County, Ireland, into a prominent Anglo-Irish family, Graves studied in Haileybury and Oxford University and became a prominent journalist and author. He was the elder half brother of author Robert Graves.

As a correspondent of "The Times" in Constantinople from 1908 to 1914, he reported on the events preceding World War I. In 1914, as a British citizen, he had to leave the Ottoman Empire due to the war. In 1915-1919, he served in the British Army in the Middle East war theatre. As a captain in Army Intelligence in Caïro he worked with T. E. Lawrence on the " Turkish Army Manual " for the Arab Bureau. His uncle Sir Robert Windham Graves had been British Consul in Erzurum (1895) and financial adviser to the Turkish government (1912) and worked for Civil Intelligence in Caïro during the same period. Sir Robert's brother Charles Larcom Graves was married to Alice Grey, daughter of Sir Edward Grey.

After 1919, Graves reported from his own homeland on the Anglo-Irish War. He worked as a foreign correspondent in India, the Levant and in the Balkans and finally returned to London to work as an editor of "The Times".

In 1921 he exposed "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" as antisemitic plagiarism in a series of articles in "The Times".

His most monumental work was a 21-volume history of World War II. Graves received numerous international awards and titles, among which are French Légion d'honneur and Italian Crown order.

In his journeys, Philip Graves developed an interest in entomology and published articles in scientific journals. He was member of the Royal Irish Academy.

He retired in 1946 and dedicated himself mainly to zoological hobbies.

Entomology

Graves specialised in butterflies (Lepidoptera) of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine, often working with Robert Eldon Ellison, a career diplomat andfellow Irishman (born in Wingstown near Dublin).

His published work on insects reflects the strengths of his collection but not its extent. In 1938, for instance, he presented more than 2,500 specimens to the Natural History Museum, London. These are described in the catalogue of acquisitions Rhopalocera (Levant and Balkans). There are a few specimens, including an excellent series of Archon apollinus in the Ulster Museum, Belfast.

His published work on insects includes:
*Collecting Lepidoptera in Syria, 1905 "Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var" 18:125-6 (1906).
*Collecting in Syria: Ain Zhalta in May -June 1905. "Entomologist’s Rec. J. Va"r 18:149-152 (1906).
*A contribution to the fauna of Syria "Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var" 23: 31-36 (1910).
*Two new Lycaenid subspecies from the Lebanon "Entomologist" 56: 154-157(1925).
*The Rhopalocera and Grypocera of Palestine and Transjordania "Trans. Ent. Soc., London", 1925 17-125 (1925).
*with Ellison, R.E. The butterflies of the Jabal Quinesia, Lebanon Entomologist’s Rec. J. Var 40:177-180 ( 1938).

An account of Graves work in entomology is given in Hesselbarth, G.; Oorschot, H. van & Wagener, S.,1975 "Die Schmetterlinge der Türkei", Band 2: 1179 - 1199 [B 2189:2] . He is named for Gonepteryx rhamni gravesi Huggins,1956, the Irish race of the Brimstone butterfly.clarifyme

Political Works

* "Briton and Turk", London, Hutchinson Publishers, 1941
* "Palestine, the land of three faiths", 1923
* "The question of the straits", Ernest Benn Publishers, 1931
* "Memoirs of King Abdallah of Transjordan" (edited by P. Graves, translated from the Arabic by G. Khuri), London, Jonathan Cape, 1950

Poetry

* "The Pursuit", London, Faber and Faber, 1930 (in the same series of books as W.H. Auden's "Poems" and J.G. MacLeod's "The Ecliptic" advertised by Faber as "by the coming men".)

References

* Richard Perceval Graves: " Robert Graves - The Assault Heroic 1895-1926 " Weidenfeld and Nicolson London 1986 ISBN 0297816314

* Lawrence James: " The Golden Warrior - The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia " Paragon New York 1993 ( index s.v. Graves, Philip ) ISBN 1557785791

External links

* [http://www.ballylickeymanorhouse.com Ballylickey Manor House, County Cork, Ireland. Now a hotel run by a son of Philip Graves]