Adventurer Profile: Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Bell was a world traveler, eloquent writer, mountaineer, archaeologist, linguist, and a British political officer who fought for self-governing Middle Eastern states and outlined the political boundaries of modern Iraq after World War I.
Bell was born on July 14th, 1868 in Durham, England (Dame Margaret Hall) to a wealthy family. Her mother, Mary Shield Bell, died when Gertrude was three, which led to a lifelong bond between Gertrude and her father, Sir Hugh Bell, which is displayed clearly in the volumes of letters she wrote to her father during her world travels.
After receiving her early education from Queen’s College in London, Bell went on to Oxford University where she became the first woman to graduate with a first class honours degree in Modern History from the university.
Gertrude Bell left England soon after her education was complete and when she returned home it was never for long until she grew sick later in life. During her years abroad she travelled around the world multiple times, spending much of her time in the Middle East studying tribal relations, language, and the daily life of the people. She mastered the Arabic, Persian, French, and German languages which propelled her into a career with British Intelligence alongside her writing career.
Noted for her superior intellect, unrivaled enthusiasm, and thirst for adventure— Bell befriended many of the individuals she encountered in her travels, but she was also thought to be stubborn and unwavering in the face of adversity, never allowing another to cross her without a fight.
After her death, Gertrude Bell’s legacy continued through her publications and the lasting impression she left on everyone she met. Having not only put King Faisal on the throne of Baghdad, she also established congenial relations with the King of Jordan. She has been described as,
“One of the few representatives of His Majesty’s Government remembered by the Arabs with anything resembling affection”.
An obituary written by her peer D. G. Hogarth expressed the respect British officials held for her. Hogarth honored her by saying,
“No woman in recent time has combined her qualities – her taste for arduous and dangerous adventure with her scientific interest and knowledge, her competence in archaeology and art, her distinguished literary gift, her sympathy for all sorts and condition of men, her political insight and appreciation of human values, her masculine vigor, hard common sense and practical efficiency – all tempered by feminine charm and a most romantic spirit.”
In The Letters of Gertrude Bell which were selected and edited by her stepmother, Lady Florence Bell, Lady Bell says of Gertrude,
“Scholar, poet, historian, archaeologist, art critic, mountaineer, explorer, gardener, naturalist, distinguished servant of the State, Gertrude was all of these, and was recognized by experts as an expert in them all.”
Noteworthy Highlights
- First woman to graduate from Modern History at Oxford with a first class honours degree.
- Summited a number of mountain peaks including La Meije and Mot Blanc in the Bernese Alps.
- One Alpine peak, Gertrudespitze, was named after her.
- Published her observations of the Middle East in Syria: The Desert and the Sown, bringing vivid descriptions of the Arabian deserts to Europe and America.
- Discovered Syrian ruins which were documented in The Thousand and One Churches.
- Employed by British Intelligence to establish close relations with tribe members throughout the Middle East, becoming the only female British political officer to receive the title of “Liaison Officer, Correspondent to Cairo”.
- Documented the Armenian massacres.
- Led the charge to place King Faisal on the throne of Iraq.
- Conceived the political boundaries of modern Iraq after World War I.
Where Gertrude Bell Traveled
Though Bell is most known for her accomplishments in Iraq, she also extensively travelled most of Europe and Mesopotamia. One of her first foreign adventures was to Persia to visit her uncle, British Ambassador Sir Frank Lascelles, which she documented in her book Persian Pictures.
She travelled thereafter to Switzerland where she scaled many peaks and developed her interest in archaeology. Her passions led her back to the Middle East through Palestine and Syria, then on a trip of Jerusalem to Damascus. She journeyed by foot and horse through desert storms and over high mountain passes, conquering all obstacles (of earth and human) that stood in her way.
Criticisms
Accused of being a “voluntourist”, Gertrude Bell is seen by some to have taken it upon herself to aid the people of “the Orient” with her Western ideologies, using her intellect and compassion to buffer the plague of British colonization that forced itself upon the Middle East as it had to nearly the rest of the world.
It is also worth considering that the present troubles in Iraq are partly to be derived from the boundaries Bell set as the nation’s borders, having placed contended boundaries between divisive groups of people.
Publications
A Woman in Arabia: The Writings of the Queen of the Desert
Gertrude Bell Complete letters
The Desert and the Sown: Travels in Palestine and Syria
Persian Pictures: From the Mountains to the Sea
Final Word
All of Gertrude Bell’s accomplishments and adventures are exponentially more amazing by the fact that she was a woman born in the 19th century. Her life started out easier than most, her family’s wealth ensuring her formal education and other opportunities, but it was innate her tenacity and empathy that allowed Bell to form cross-cultural friendships, climb institutional ranks, and demand the attentive ears of the men around her. She fought tooth and nail against misogyny throughout her life, but she worked harder than most and pushed through many of the glass boundaries which had been set in front of her.
This is a woman worth remembering. Don’t forget about Gertrude Bell.
You can follow Gertrude on her adventure from Jerusalem to the Ruins of Petra by listening to the third episode of the Better Hiker podcast.
