F. A. Mitchell-Hedges
F.A. Mitchell-Hedges (
22 October,
1882 - June
1959) was an
English adventurer,
traveler, and
writer. The "F.A." stood for either "Frederick Arthur" or " Frederick Albert", depending on source. He sometimes went by the name "Mike Hedges".
Mitchell-Hedges had a talent for telling colorful stories. The veracity of much of his autobiographic writings is in question. He has been compared to
Baron Munchhausen.
Mitchell-Hedges spent some years alternating between
Central America, the
Caribbean, the
United Kingdom, and the
United States. Some sources say he was a mercenary, others that he was a British government
spy, and others that he was independently wealthy and traveling for diversion. Some of his "expeditions" to Central America were financed by well-to-do British socialites. For a time he was sponsored by the
Daily Mail.
Mitchell-Hedges repeatedly made claims of having "discovered" Indian tribes and "lost cities" that had already been documented years, sometimes centuries, before.
He claimed he discovered "the cradle of civilisation" in the
Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua, and that the
Bay Islands of
Honduras were remnants of the lost civilisation of
Atlantis.
Today Mitchell-Hedges is best known for his connection to a famous
crystal skull now in the possession of his adopted daughter. He claimed to have discovered what he termed "The Skull of Doom" at the
Maya ruin of
Lubaantun (which he also claimed to have discovered) in
British Honduras in the
1920s. However Mitchell-Hedges published no mention of the skull until the late 1940s, not long after a crystal skull was auctioned off at
Sotheby's in
1943. Some think that Mitchell-Hedges crystal skull is actually the one from Sotheby's.
For a time in the
1930s he had a weekly
radio show out of
New York City on Sunday evenings. Talking over a background of "jungle drums", Mitchell-Hedges would tell dramatic tales of his adventures, usually including narrow escapes from death at the hands of "savages" or from jungle animals ranging from a
jaguar to a vicious attacking
iguana (!).
Mitchell-Hedges' books include
"Battles With Giant Fish",
"Danger, My Ally" and
"Land of Wonder and Fear".
Concerning the last title, prominent Maya archeologist
J. Eric S. Thompson commented that "to me the wonder was how he could write such nonsense and the fear how much taller the next yarn would be".
*
Mitchell-Hedges self-submitted entry in Who's Who, 1928 (link broken?)
*
CRYSTAL SKULLS on crystalinks.com with information on Mitchell-Hedges
