Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell

Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941), 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 – such as his 1884 Reconnaissance and Scouting and his 1899 Aids to Scouting for N.-C.Os and Men, which was intended for the military, 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. In August 1907, he held an experimental camp, the Brownsea Island Scout camp to test his ideas for training boys in scouting. He wrote Scouting for Boys, published in 1908 by C. Arthur Pearson Limited, for boy readership. In 1910, Baden-Powell retired from the army and formed The Scout Association.

In 1909, a rally of Scouts was held at The Crystal Palace. Many girls in Scout uniform attended and, in front of the press, a small group told Baden-Powell that they were the "Girl Scouts". In 1910, Baden-Powell and his sister Agnes started The Girl Guides Association. In 1912, Baden-Powell married Olave St Clair Soames. He gave guidance to The Scout Association and Girl Guides Association until retiring in 1937. Baden-Powell lived his last years in Nyeri, Kenya, where he died and was buried in 1941. His grave is a national monument.