George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, was a British Conservative statesman, who served as the Viceroy of India from 1899 to 1905. Born into an aristocrat family of Norman ancestry, he had his education first at Eton College and then at Balliol College, Oxford. While studying at Eton, he incurred a severe spinal injury from a riding accident, which caused lifelong pain, often forcing him to take medicines. At the age of 26, he began his political career as an Assistant Private Secretary to the then prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, quickly climbing the ladder to become the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by 36 and the Viceroy of India at 40. He returned to England the age of 46, thereafter entering a short period of political eclipse, later serving on the War Committee during the First World War. After the war, he became the Foreign Secretary, serving in this capacity for the next five years.