About
Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) was a British archaeologist, writer, and diplomat. The first woman to earn a first-class honours degree in modern history at Oxford, she travelled extensively in the Middle East, learning Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. An accomplished mountaineer, she was recruited by British intelligence in 1915. She attended the Paris Peace Conference (1919) and the Cairo Conference (1921), helping to draw the borders of modern Iraq and advising on the selection of Faisal I as its first king. As Honorary Director of Antiquities in Iraq, she founded the Baghdad Museum and wrote Iraq's first antiquities law. Her literary works include travel narratives and archaeological studies.
* 1868-07-14 — † 1926-07-12
Major works
- The Desert and the Sown (1907)travelogue
- The Thousand and One Churches (1909)archaeological study
- Amurath to Amurath (1911)travelogue
Key milestones
- 1888First woman to earn a first-class honours degree in modern history at Oxford.
- 1915Recruited by British intelligence to join the Arab Bureau in Cairo.
- 1923Appointed Honorary Director of Antiquities in Iraq and founded the Baghdad Museum.
Themes
Travel and explorationArchaeologyPolitics and diplomacyMiddle EastRole of women
Sources: gertrudebell.ncl.ac.uk · qdl.qa · unesco.org.uk