Strange coincidence in Moonraker (the novel)

Gerard

I was reading Moonraker the other day in the train that ttok me from Britanny to Paris, and I found the following phrase in the second chapter, when Bond describes Hugo Drax to M: "But they rather like that. Makes him a sort of Lonsdale figure, but more in their class." So I asked myself two questions: a) Who is this Lonsdale Bond talks about ? I tried Wikipedia, but there's a ton of Lonsdales there. And b) Could that phrase explains the casting of french actor Michel Lonsdale in the Movie ?

BTW, one thing is sure: not only was fleming familiar with french swear words, as we know since Casino Royale, he was equally at home with german expletives, including Götz Von Berlichingen famous saying ;)

SaintMark

Lonsdale figure: reference to Lord Lonsdale (b.1857-1944), British sporting enthousiast. President of the National Sporting Club, who lent his name to the most coveted trophy inBritish boxing, the Lonsdale belt. The belts, were inaugurated in 1909, became the permanent property of any boxer who wins three British titlefights in a weight division.
Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations And Chronologies for Ian Fleming's ...
by John Griswold

at your service. O:-)

Gerard

Thank you for the answer. I was pretty certain that Fleming didn't talk about the crystallographer. I should have realized that he was talking of a sportsman, that is if I had researched the two other names mentioned in said speach, cricketeer Jack Hobbs and jockey Gordon Richards.

BTW, am I right in thinking that Moonraker also sports the first reference to meth (called here Philopon) in popular litterature ?

Dragonpol

Yes, this coincidence has been noted several times before elsewhere online. Just a coincidence I think, as James Mason was originally pencilled in to play Hugo Drax.