Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell

Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with his sister Agnes, of The Girl Guides Association. Baden-Powell wrote Scouting for Boys, which, with his previous books, his 1884 Reconnaissance and Scouting and his 1899 Aids to Scouting for N.-C.Os and Men and The Scout magazine helped the rapid growth of the Scout Movement.

Educated at Charterhouse School, Baden-Powell served in the British Army from 1876 until 1910 in India and Africa. In 1899, during the Second Boer War in South Africa, Baden-Powell defended the town in the Siege of Mafeking. His books, written for military reconnaissance and scout training, were also read by boys and used by teachers and youth organisations.