Did you know there was a woman in history who was known as the “Female Lawrence of Arabia?’
Gertrude Bell was quite the fascinating figure, as she opposed women’s suffrage but went against all social norms for women who lived in the Victorian Era and lived a life of adventure.

Gertrude was born in 1868 in County Durham, England. She came from a very affluent family and was close to her father, Sir Hugh Bell, a wealthy mill owner. Her progressive father encouraged Gertrude to get an education, so she attended the prestigious Oxford University.

At Oxford, Gertrude had a brilliant reputation as a student and became the first woman to earn first-class honors in the history department.

After graduating, Gertrude began traveling the world and spent time in Tehran, Persia, with her uncle, who was the British Prime Minister. She found a passion for writing and soon began a career as an author who wrote books about her travels.

Between the 1890s and early 1900s, Gertrude traveled to parts of the world some English women could only dream of visiting. She climbed treacherous mountains in the Alps, visited the Middle East, and became fluent in multiple languages, including French, German, Arabic, and Persian.

She was fascinated with women’s lives in the Middle East and became friends with many residents, wives, and mothers there.

In 1905, Gertrude traveled to Syria, and began seeking archaeological sites, and started traveling with different archaeologists and scholars. One of her most famous archaeological trips was when she trekked along the Euphrates River in 1909.

Again, while Gertrude was having all of these adventures, many women her age back in England, most women were expected to find a husband, have children, and stay home to take care of them.

By the 1910s, Gertrude was a full-blown diplomat and became very influential in Middle Eastern politics.

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In 1917, she became the Chief Political Officer to the British Resident in Baghdad and was known for reporting on Mesopotamia’s administration. She was the only woman considered to be a member of the Mesopotamia Commission at the Cairo Conference in 1921.

After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the early 1920s, Gertrude was there to help establish the boundaries that made up the modern state of Iraq. She was influential in placing Iraq’s first ruler, King Faisal, on the throne in 1922.

During her final years, Gertrude went back to archaeology and passionately worked on the creation of an archaeological museum in Baghdad. Since all of the antiquities set to be displayed were discovered in Iraq, she wanted to ensure they stayed in the country they were found in; thus, the National Museum of Iraq was built in 1923.

Gertrude hit some hard times and suffered losses during her final months, and in July of 1926, she sadly overdosed on sleeping pills and passed away at 57.

Though she was very outspoken and had an incredibly unique career as a woman, Gertrude was a controversial figure.

She was quite old-fashioned and didn’t support a woman’s right to vote, being against the suffrage movement. Others say that Gertrude pushed an imperialist agenda through the Middle East, which led to years of destruction and violence.

Despite her controversial legacy, there is no doubt Gertrude Bell was an astounding woman who, for her day, was truly one of a kind.

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