She
is the first woman to have circled the globe (at least, that we know
of)...but she had to pretend to be a man to do it!
Jeanne
Baret (born on this date in 1740) was a close companion to a man named Philibert Commerson, who
had been hired as the naturalist for an expedition of discovery.
Commerson needed Baret to act as both an assistant in studying
previously unknown plants (Baret was reported to be an expert
botanist) and as a nurse, since he was often unwell. However, the
expedition had a firm no-women-allowed rule. Baret disguised herself
as a man called Jean (the French equivalent to the name “John”),
and just before the two expedition ships set sail, in 1766, she got a position
as Commerson's assistant. The two pretended not to know each other
before the journey!
Once
the Louis Antoine de Bougainville expedition reached Montevideo, in
what is now the nation of Uruguay in South America, Baret had to do
much of the hard work in collecting plants, since Commerson's leg had
an unhealed ulcer. She probably carried most of the supplies and
specimens, for example. The next port, Rio de Janeiro, found
Commerson supposedly confined to the ship until his leg healed.
However, he and Baret still managed to collect some specimens,
including a gorgeous flowering plant that Commerson named
Bougainvilla after the expedition leader. When they explored rugged
Patagonia, Baret gained a reputation with the entire expedition for
courage and strength, and the injured Commerson ruefully called her
his “beast of burden.” Baret not only helped collect plants,
stones, and shells, she also helped organize and catalog the
specimens and notes. Baret and Commerson had plenty of time to do so
while sailing across the Pacific Ocean from South America to Tahiti.
 |
| Bougainvilla bush |
Once
in Tahiti, apparently, Baret was found out as a woman. Different
journals tell very different stories about how this discovery was
made (and even when and where, to some extent), but some time later,
when the ships landed in the French colony of Mauritius (an island in
the Indian Ocean), Baret and Commerson left the expedition to visit a
friend and fellow botanist.
The
two continued to collect botanical specimens on Mauritius, but
Commerson was running out of money and continuing to have health
problems. Suddenly, he died, and Baret had no way to get back to
France!
Baret got a job running a tavern on Mauritius, and about a year later she
married an officer in the French army who was on his way home. When
she finally did get back to France with her new husband, probably
nine years after she started out with Bougainville's expedition, she
was able to get the money left to her by Commerson's will. She and
her husband settled down in a peaceful little village.
Here's
a surprise: Baret was given a pension of 200 livres a year by the
Ministry of Marine, with these complimentary words:
“Jeanne
Barré, by means of a disguise, circumnavigated the globe on one of
the vessels commanded by Mr de Bougainville. She devoted herself in
particular to assisting Mr de Commerson, doctor and botanist, and
shared with great courage the labours and dangers of this savant. Her
behaviour was exemplary and Mr de Bougainville refers to it with all
due credit.... His Lordship has been gracious enough to grant to this
extraordinary woman a pension of two hundred livres a year to be
drawn from the fund for invalid servicemen and this pension shall be
payable from 1 January 1785.”
I
love that she was given this respect and reward while she was still
living! So many women were hated during their lives but later
praised.
Also
on this date:
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