Welcome to
The Homer Lea
Research Center

Homer Lea’s career was stranger than many found in romantic fiction. Lea (1876-1912), a five-foot hunchback who suffered from debilitating health, overcame his afflictions in pursuing dreams and ambitions that few men ever achieve. He is best remembered as a somewhat mysterious adventurer, author, and geopolitical strategist who challenged conventional wisdom and went against significant odds in forging himself a role on the world scene. His youthful desires for adventure, including the pursuit of a military career, were fulfilled when he found opportunities for advancement through the Chinese reform and revolutionary movements. He began his adventures in 1900, after dropping out of Stanford University and going to China during the Boxer Rebellion, and ultimately became the trusted personal military advisor to Chinese revolutionary leader Dr. Sun Yat-sen during the 1911 Chinese Republican Revolution. In the interim he became a celebrated author and internationally recognized geopolitical strategist. In 1912, he was poised on the brink of fulfilling a Napoleonic destiny in China when his health gave out. He died later that year, shortly before his 36th birthday, leaving an indelible mark on the history of his times.