David Livingstone (19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a British
Congregationalist pioneer medical
missionary with the
London Missionary Society and an
explorer in Africa. His meeting with
H. M. Stanley on 10 November 1871 gave rise to the popular quotation "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Livingstone was one of the most popular national heroes of the late 19th century in
Victorian Britain, and he had a mythical status which operated on a number of interconnected levels: Protestant missionary martyr, working-class "rags to riches" inspirational story, scientific investigator and explorer, imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader, and advocate of commercial empire. His fame as an explorer helped drive forward the obsession with discovering the sources of the
River Nile that formed the culmination of the classic period of European geographical discovery and colonial penetration of the African continent.