Robert Jones ("Captain Jones") was an officer in the Royal Artillery of the British Army, who wrote and self-published the first book on figure skating, The Art of Skating, in 1772. He was known for popularising figure skating in Great Britain, and for his 1772 trial for sodomy. He also wrote a book about and popularising fireworks. The Art of Skating was called "a milestone in the history of figure skating". Jones described basic techniques of skating, which was a recreational activity at the time, before the development of figure skating as a sport in the late 1800s. He was the first to characterize skating as an art form. He wrote that he saw no reason for the exclusion of women in skating, as long as they did it for recreational purposes.
Robert Jones ("Captain Jones") was an officer in the Royal Artillery of the British Army, who wrote and self-published the first book on figure skating, The Art of Skating, in 1772. He was known for popularising figure skating in Great Britain, and for his 1772 trial for sodomy. He also wrote a book about and popularising fireworks. The Art of Skating was called "a milestone in the history of figure skating". Jones described basic techniques of skating, which was a recreational activity at the time, before the development of figure skating as a sport in the late 1800s. He was the first to characterize skating as an art form. He wrote that he saw no reason for the exclusion of women in skating, as long as they did it for recreational purposes. In 1772, Jones was convicted of sodomy against a 12-year-old boy; he was sentenced to death but allowed to go into exile. The court case was widely debated and discussed among politicians and in the popular press of the day and was called the "eighteenth century equivalent to the trial of Oscar Wilde a hundred years later". (en)
Robert Jones ("Captain Jones") was an officer in the Royal Artillery of the British Army, who wrote and self-published the first book on figure skating, The Art of Skating, in 1772. He was known for popularising figure skating in Great Britain, and for his 1772 trial for sodomy. He also wrote a book about and popularising fireworks. The Art of Skating was called "a milestone in the history of figure skating". Jones described basic techniques of skating, which was a recreational activity at the time, before the development of figure skating as a sport in the late 1800s. He was the first to characterize skating as an art form. He wrote that he saw no reason for the exclusion of women in skating, as long as they did it for recreational purposes. (en)
