Freya Stark facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dame Freya Stark DBE
Portrait by Herbert Arnould Olivier (1923), National Portrait Gallery, London
Born	(1893-01-31)31 January 1893 Paris, French Third Republic
Died	9 May 1993(1993-05-09) (aged 100) Asolo, Veneto, Italy
Occupation	Explorer, travel writer

Dame Freya Madeline Stark DBE (31 January 1893 – 9 May 1993) was a famous British-Italian explorer and writer. She wrote many books about her exciting journeys. Her travels took her through the Middle East and Afghanistan. Freya Stark was one of the first non-Arab people known to explore the southern Arabian Desert in modern times.

Freya Stark's Early Life and Education

Freya Stark was born in Paris on January 31, 1893. Her parents were artists studying there. Her mother, Flora, had a mix of English, French, German, and Polish family roots. Her father, Robert, was an English painter. Freya spent much of her childhood in northern Italy. This was because a friend of her father's, Pen Browning, owned houses in a town called Asolo.

Freya's parents separated when she was young. For her ninth birthday, she received a book called One Thousand and One Nights. This book made her very interested in the Middle East. She was often sick as a child and had to stay indoors. Reading became her favorite activity, especially French stories by Alexandre Dumas.

When she was thirteen, Freya had an accident in a factory in Italy. Her hair got caught in a machine, causing a serious injury to her scalp and ear. She spent several months in the hospital and had scars. To cover these, she often wore beautiful hats.

At age 30, Freya decided to study Arabic at Bedford College, London. Later, she also studied Persian at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

Exciting Early Travels and Books

Freya Stark believed that true travel meant being open to new experiences. She felt it was important to accept each place as it was. This was different from just being a tourist.

During World War I, Freya worked as a postal censor. She also trained as a nurse and helped with a British Red Cross ambulance unit in Italy. Her sister, Vera, sadly passed away in 1926. Freya felt that Vera hadn't lived life fully on her own terms. This made Freya determined to have her own adventures. Soon after, she began her travels.

In November 1927, Freya started her journeys in the East. She sailed to Beirut, Lebanon. She then traveled to Baghdad, Iraq. During one trip, she secretly rode a donkey with a guide and another English woman. They traveled at night through remote areas. This was because Syria and Lebanon were under French control, and travel was restricted. French soldiers caught them, thinking they were spies. However, they were released after three days. After this trip, Freya wrote about the strict French rule and how it affected the Syrian people.

By 1931, Freya had completed three challenging trips into western Iran. She explored areas where Westerners had rarely been. She even found the famous "Valleys of the Assassins" (Hashshashins). She wrote about these adventures in her book The Valleys of the Assassins (1934). For her explorations, she received an award from the Royal Geographical Society in 1933.

In 1934, Freya sailed to Aden to start a new journey. She wanted to follow the ancient frankincense trade route in southern Arabia, in a region called the Hadhramaut. Few Western explorers had ever gone so far into this area. Her goal was to reach the old city of Shabwa, believed to be the capital of the Queen of Sheba. She became very ill during this trip. She caught measles and dysentery and had to be flown to a hospital. Even though she didn't reach Shabwa, she explored a lot and wrote about her experiences.

Freya returned to the region for more trips. During her journeys, she saw many different ways of life and social customs. Some of these were very different from what she knew, and she often thought about how societies change over time. She published three books about this region: The Southern Gates of Arabia (1936), Seen In The Hadhramaut (1938), and A Winter in Arabia (1940). She received another medal from the Royal Geographical Society for her travels and writings.

Freya Stark During World War II

In 1939, Freya Stark offered her help to the British Ministry of Information. Because of her knowledge of the Middle East, she was sent to Yemen. Her job was to share information about the British cause. She even showed films, which was unusual because the rulers of Yemen were strict Muslims.

After working in Yemen and Aden, she moved to Cairo in 1940. There, she started a special gathering place. Four times a week, people would come for tea and discuss the British cause. Soon, students from King Fuad I University joined these discussions. They talked about the war and its effects on Egypt. These meetings grew into a network called Ikhwan al Hurriya (Brotherhood of Freedom). This group aimed to encourage Arabs to support the Allies or stay neutral.

By the middle of the war, the Brotherhood had tens of thousands of members. Freya traveled all over Egypt, sometimes speaking for 10 hours a day. She wrote about these wartime experiences in Letters from Syria (1942) and East is West (1945). After a visit to Iraq, where she was caught in a coup attempt at the British Embassy, she was asked to set up a branch of the Ikhwan al Hurriya there. Freya agreed and spent two years in Iraq.

In 1943, Freya Stark also shared her strong opinions on political matters, especially concerning the movement of people into Palestine. She believed it was important to consider the views of the Arab people in the region. These ideas were quite debated at the time.

Post-War Adventures and Writings

After the war, Freya continued to write. She published a collection of essays called Perseus in the Wind (1948). She also wrote three books about her own life: Traveller's Prelude (1950), Beyond Euphrates (1951), and The Coast of Incense (1953).

Freya started traveling again after her marriage ended. Her first big post-war trips were in Turkey. These journeys inspired her books Ionia a Quest (1954), The Lycian Shore (1956), Alexander's Path (1958), and Riding to the Tigris (1959). She also continued her life story with Dust in the Lion's Paw (1961). She wrote a history book, Rome on the Euphrates (1966), and another essay collection, The Zodiac Arch (1968).

Her last big expedition was to Afghanistan in 1968, when she was 75 years old. She traveled to see the ancient Minaret of Jam. In 1970, she published The Minaret of Djam: An Excursion into Afghanistan. In her later years, living in Asolo, she put together new essays and collections of her letters and travel writings.

Freya Stark's Photographs

Freya Stark was not only a writer but also a talented photographer. She took many pictures during her travels. Over forty of her photo albums, with about 6,000 black-and-white prints, are kept at the Middle East Centre in St Antony’s College, Oxford. She often used the same Leica III camera, which she bought in 1933. Many of her photographs have been published in books.

Smaller collections of her photos are also held in other important archives. In 1934, she received the Richard Burton Memorial Medal from the Royal Asiatic Society. This award recognized her contributions to geographic exploration and travel writing.

Later Life

Freya Stark was honored for her achievements in 1972. She was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).

She passed away in Asolo, Italy, on May 9, 1993. This was just a few months after her hundredth birthday.

Personal Life

In 1947, at the age of 54, Freya married Stewart Perowne. He was a British administrator and historian. They had met when she worked as his assistant during World War II. They did not have children. Their marriage was challenging, and they separated in 1952. Despite this, they remained in contact later in their lives. Stewart Perowne passed away in 1989.

Writings

See also

In Spanish: Freya Stark para niños

• List of female explorers and travellers