Isabelle Eberhardt

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Swiss explorer and author. As a teenager, Eberhardt, educated in Switzerland by her father, published short stories under a male pseudonym. She became interested in North Africa, and was considered a proficient writer on the subject despite learning about the region only through correspondence. After an invitation from photographer Louis David, Eberhardt moved to Algeria in May 1897. She dressed as a man and converted to Islam, eventually adopting the name Si Mahmoud Saadi. Eberhardt's unorthodox behaviour made her an outcast among European settlers in Algeria and the French administration. Eberhardt's acceptance by the Qadiriyya, an Islamic order, convinced the French administration that she was a spy or an agitator. She survived an assassination attempt shortly thereafter. In 1901, the French administration ordered her to leave Algeria, but she was allowed to return the following year after marrying her partner, the Algerian soldier Slimane Ehnni. Following her return, Eberhardt wrote for a newspaper published by Victor Barrucand and worked for General Hubert Lyautey. Eberhardt and Ehnni relocated to Ténès in July 1902 after Ehnni obtained employment there as a translator. Eberhardt was incorrigibly bad with her money, spending anything she received immediately on tobacco, books, and gifts for friends, and pawning her meagre possessions or asking for loans when she realised there was no money left for food. This behaviour made her even more of a pariah among the other European residents of the town. Eberhardt would frequently leave for weeks at a time, being either summoned to Algiers by Barrucand or sent on assignments. She was given a regular column in his newspaper, where she wrote about the life and customs of Bedouin tribes. Both Ehnni and Eberhardt's health deteriorated, with Eberhardt regularly suffering from bouts of malaria. She was also probably affected by syphilis. Barrucand dispatched Eberhardt to report on the aftereffects of the 2 September 1903 Battle of El-Moungar. She stayed with French Foreign Legion soldiers and met Hubert Lyautey, the French officer in charge of Oran, at their headquarters. Eberhardt and Lyautey became friends and, due to her knowledge of Islam and Arabic, she became a liaison between him and the local Arab people. While Eberhardt never ceased protesting against any repressive actions undertaken by the French administration, she believed that Lyautey's approach, which focused on diplomacy rather than military force, would bring peace to the region. Although details are unclear, it is generally accepted that Eberhardt also engaged in espionage for Lyautey. Concerned about a powerful marabout in the Atlas Mountains, Lyautey sent her to meet with him in 1904. At the marabout's zawiya, Eberhardt was weakened by fever. She returned to Aïn Séfra, and was treated at the military hospital. She left the hospital against medical advice and asked Ehnni, from whom she had been separated for several months, to join her. Reunited on 20 October 1904, they rented a small mud house. The following day, a flash flood struck the area. As soon as the waters subsided, Lyautey launched a search for her. Ehnni was discovered almost immediately, saying that Eberhardt had been swept away by the water. Based on this information, Lyautey and his men searched the surrounding area for several days before deciding to explore the ruins of the house where the couple had stayed. Her body was crushed under one of the house's supporting beams. The exact circumstances of her death were never discovered. While some biographers have raised suspicions regarding Ehnni, most believe it more likely that Eberhardt, who had always believed she would die young, instead accepted her fate. Mackworth speculated that after initially trying to run from the floodwaters, Eberhardt instead turned back to face them. Blanch argued that due to Eberhardt's history of suicidal tendencies, she probably would have still chosen to stay in the area even if she had known the flood was coming. Lyautey buried Eberhardt in Aïn Sefra and had a marble tombstone, engraved with her adopted name in Arabic and her birth name in French, placed on her grave. Link to Wikipedia biography