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	{{Short description\|British naval officer and photographer (1860–1935)}}		{{Short description\|British naval officer and photographer (1860–1935)}}
	{{Use British English\|date=November ~~2022~~}}		{{Use British English\|date=November 2014}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=November ~~2022~~}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=November 2014}}
	[[File:M_V_Portman.jpg\|thumb\|Portman with Andamanese chiefs]]		[[File:M_V_Portman.jpg\|thumb\|Portman with Andamanese chiefs]]
	'''Maurice Vidal Portman''' (21 March 1860 – 14 February 1935) was a British [[naval officer]], who is best known for documenting several [[Andamanese people\|Andamanese tribes]] between 1879 and 1901 when he was posted as a superintendent of the Andaman Island Penal Colony.<ref name="weber">{{cite web\|first=George \|last=Weber \|url=http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/app-a/a-portman.htm \|title=Maurice Vidal Portman (1861-1935) \|work=The Andamanese (Appendix A - Pioneer Biographies of the British Period to 1947) \|accessdate=2012-07-03 \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805204050/http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/app-a/a-portman.htm \|archivedate=5 August 2012 \|url-status=dead }}</ref>		'''Maurice Vidal Portman''' (21 March 1860 – 14 February 1935) was a British [[naval officer]], who is best known for documenting several [[Andamanese people\|Andamanese tribes]] between 1879 and 1901 when he was posted as a superintendent of the Andaman Island Penal Colony.<ref name="weber">{{cite web\|first=George \|last=Weber \|url=http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/app-a/a-portman.htm \|title=Maurice Vidal Portman (1861-1935) \|work=The Andamanese (Appendix A - Pioneer Biographies of the British Period to 1947) \|accessdate=2012-07-03 \|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805204050/http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/app-a/a-portman.htm \|archivedate=5 August 2012 \|url-status=dead }}</ref>

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{{Short description|British naval officer and photographer (1860–1935)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2022}}
[[File:M_V_Portman.jpg|thumb|Portman with Andamanese chiefs]]
'''Maurice Vidal Portman''' (21 March 1860 – 14 February 1935) was a British [[naval officer]], who is best known for documenting several [[Andamanese people|Andamanese tribes]] between 1879 and 1901 when he was posted as a superintendent of the Andaman Island Penal Colony.<ref name="weber">{{cite web|first=George |last=Weber |url=http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/app-a/a-portman.htm |title=Maurice Vidal Portman (1861-1935) |work=The Andamanese (Appendix A - Pioneer Biographies of the British Period to 1947) |accessdate=2012-07-03 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805204050/http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/app-a/a-portman.htm |archivedate=5 August 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Life and career==
Portman was born in Canada, the third son of [[Maurice Berkeley Portman]] and Helen Vidal Harris. His father was in turn the third son of [[Edward Portman, 1st Viscount Portman]], and [[Emma Portman, Baroness Portman]]. He joined the [[Royal Indian Navy|Royal Indian Marine]] at the age of 16 and was some time in charge of the Viceroy's yacht. In July 1879 he was stationed at [[Port Blair]] in the [[Andaman Islands]] and made Officer in Charge of the Andamanese, a post which he held for more than 20 years with few interruptions (including December 1880 to December 1883 on sick leave, March 1887 to March 1888 on furlough).<ref name="weber"/>

== Port Blair ==

During his time as a colonial administrator at Port Blair, Portman took a large number of photographs of the Andamanese, including some at the request of [[British Museum]] (at his own expense) and the [[British Raj|Government of India]] (on payment). Portman also undertook an expedition to [[North Sentinel Island]] to contact the previously uncontacted tribe inhabiting the island. During the expedition, the [[Sentinelese]] fled at the sight of the expedition, though his party [[kidnapping|kidnapped]] two adults and four children, taking them to the capital of the [[South Andaman Island]], [[Port Blair]]. The adults died of illness soon after reaching Port Blair, and Portman ordered the children to be sent back with a large number of gifts after a few weeks.<ref>
{{cite book
|last=Portman
|first=M. V.
|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofourrela02portuoft
|title=A History Of Our Relations With The Andamanese Vol.2
|date=1899
|publisher=Calcutta Off. of the Superintendent of Govt. Print., India
|isbn=
|location=
|pages=232
}}
</ref><ref name="obit">
(1935) "[http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/app-a/a-portman.htm Obituary – Mr. M.V. Portman – 'Father' of Andaman Islanders]
{{webarchive
|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805204050/andaman.org/BOOK/app-a/a-portman.htm
|date=5 August 2012
}}". ''The Times of London'', 22 February 1935. Reproduced by G. Weber in ''[http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/text-group-BodyChapters.htm The Andamanese]
{{webarchive
|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724070402/andaman.org/BOOK/text-group-BodyChapters.htm
|date=24 July 2013
}}'', Appendix A
</ref>
The illness carried by the returning children, who had acquired them in Port Blair, has been suggested by some as the cause of the hostility displayed by the Sentinelese towards outsiders.<ref name="forbes">
{{cite news
|url=https://forbes.com/sites/jimdobson/2015/09/28/will-the-worlds-most-dangerous-island-become-a-human-zoo-the-shocking-future-of-north-sentinel
|title=A Human Zoo on the World's Most Dangerous Island? The Shocking Future of North Sentinel
|last=Dobson
|first=Jim
|date=21 November 2018
|work=[[Forbes]]
|access-date=11 November 2018
|language=en
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122111054/forbes.com/sites/jimdobson/2015/09/28/will-the-worlds-most-dangerous-island-become-a-human-zoo-the-shocking-future-of-north-sentinel
|archive-date=22 November 2018
|url-status=live
}}
</ref>
During his time as a colonial administrator, Portman noted the devastating impact outside diseases, such as [[smallpox]], had on the Andamanese.<ref>
{{cite news
|last=Saini
|first=Ajay
|date=2020-07-18
|title=As COVID-19 reaches the Andaman Islands, the story of the Great Andamanese tribe should be a wake-up call for administrators|language=en-IN
|work=The Hindu
|url=https://thehindu.com/society/as-covid-19-reaches-the-andaman-islands-the-story-of-the-great-andamanese-tribe-should-be-a-wake-up-call-for-administrators/article32122699.ece
|access-date=2021-03-16
|issn=0971-751X
}}
</ref>

Portman continued to take photographs of the Andamanese in Port Blair until the end of his stay in the island, documenting information about their [[Anthropology|anthropological]] details, showing a marked interest in measuring the [[penises]] of the Andamanese.<ref>
{{cite journal
|last=Sen
|first=Satadru
|date=2009
|title=Savage Bodies, Civilized Pleasures: M. V. Portman and the Andamanese
|url=https://jstor.org/stable/27667567
|journal=American Ethnologist
|volume=36
|issue=2
|pages=364–379
|doi=10.1111/j.1548-1425.2009.01140.x
|jstor=27667567
|issn=0094-0496
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite web
|date=2018-11-30
|title=Man who made lost tribe hate the world
|url=https://news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/creepy-antics-of-british-naval-officer-over-100-years-ago-had-a-profound-impact-on-lost-tribe/news-story/1d6b9e58f92a43f1232a5363c8899b1d
|access-date=2021-01-28
|website=NewsComAu
|language=en
}}
</ref>
A significant portion of his photography involved posing the Andamanese in mock-Greek [[Homoeroticism|homoerotic]] compositions. Portman repeatedly praised the male Andamanese body, writing that "many of the men are very good-looking; as they have none of the thick lips, high cheekbones, and flat noses of the negro type; though the women are rather of the [[Sarah_Baartman|Hottentot Venus]] order of beauty".<ref>
{{cite journal
|last=Portman
|first=Maurice
|date=1888
|title=The Exploration and Survey of the Little Andamans
|url=https://jstor.org/stable/1800974
|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography
|volume=10
|issue=9
|pages=567–576
|doi=10.2307/1800974
|jstor=1800974
|issn=0266-626X
}}
</ref>
The plates made by Portman are now scattered among several museums around the world and may be partly unpublished.<ref name="weber" /> He also wrote two books, ''Notes of the Languages of the South Andaman Group of Languages'' (1898)<ref name="portlang">Portman, M.V. (1898), ''Notes of the Languages of the South Andaman Group of Languages''</ref> and ''A History of Our Relations with the Andamanese'' (1899).<ref name="portman">Portman, M.V. (1899), '' A history of our Relations with the Andamanese'', [https://archive.org/details/historyofourrela01portuoft Volume I] and [https://archive.org/details/historyofourrela02portuoft Volume II]. Office of the Government Printing, Calcutta, India.</ref> Portman also composed a significant collection of ethnographic objects during his time on the Andaman Islands that are now in the collections of the [[British Museum]].<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?people=36425&peoA=36425-3-9 British Museum Collection]</ref>

==Later life==
His obituary stated that he had a "frail physique" and suffered from ill health. After retiring as an invalid in 1901, he went back to Britain where he did some journalism and "some valuable Secret Service work" during [[World War I]].<ref name="obit"/> He was a member of the [[Union Club (London)|Union Club]].<ref name="obit"/> He never married and left no descendants.<ref name="weber"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Maurice Vidal Portman}}
*13-volume collection of photos held at the British Library: ''Andamanese Islanders'' (1893): [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=361 Volume I]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=362 Volume II]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=363 Volume III]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=364 Volume IV]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=365 Volume V]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=366 Volume VI]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=367 Volume VII]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=368 Volume VIII]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=369 Volume IX]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=370 Volume X]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=371 Volume XI]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=372 Volume XII]; [http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/indiaofficeselect/PhotoShowDescs.asp?CollID=373 Volume XIII] (Portman Collection)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portman, Maurice Vidal}}
[[Category:1860 births]]
[[Category:1935 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Axbridge]]
[[Category:Royal Indian Navy officers]]
[[Category:Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]
[[Category:Portman family|Maurice Vidal]]
[[Category:Linguists]]

Maurice Vidal Portman - Revision history

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