Kenneth Searight

Arthur Kenneth Searight (1883-1957) was a boylover most known as the creator of the international auxiliary language "Sona". Searight was born in Kessington, England and attended the Charterhouse School and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He later received a commission in the British army and for years was stationed in India, Egypt and Iraq.

Searight travelled extensively around the Mediterranean during his years of service but also while on leave. During his travels, Searight developed a particular liking for comparative linguistics which led him to formulate "Sona" and publish an outline of the language's grammar and vocabulary.

Since his school years Searight was also very fond of young boys. This was evident by a manuscript he left. Paidikion, or the book of Hyakinthos and Narkissos (ca 1917) is 570-page manuscript of semi-pornographic poetry and prose, including an 137-page (sexual) autobiography of the author in verse. In another section of the manuscript called Searight gives us a list of his affairs with 129 different boys from 1897 to 1917. The boys' average age is around 15.

Searight retired to Rome in 1926, where he died in 1957.

Further reading

Toby Hammond, "Paidikion: a paiderastic manuscript," International Journal of Greek Love 1, no. 2 (1966): 28-37.