Jeanne Baret facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jeanne Baret
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Imagined portrait of Jeanne Baret dressed as a sailor, dating from 1817, after her death.
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| Born | July 27, 1740 |
| Died | August 5, 1807 (aged 67) |
| Nationality | French |
| Other names | Jean Baret, Jeanne de Bonnefoi, Jeanne Barré |
| Occupation | housekeeper, valet, botanist, tavern-keeper |
| Spouse(s) | Jean Dubernat (1774–1807) |
| Partner(s) | Philibert Commerson (1760s–1773) |
Jeanne Baret (July 27, 1740 – August 5, 1807) is recognized as the first woman to have circumnavigated the globe, which she did on a ship. She was a member of Admiral Louis Antoine de Bougainville's, which sailed on the ships La Boudeuse and Étoile in 1766–1769.
Jeanne Baret joined the expedition disguised as a man, calling herself Jean Baret. She joined as the personal attendant and assistant to Philibert Commerçon (anglicized as Commerson), who was the expedition's naturalist. According to Admiral Bougainville, Baret was an expert botanist.
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Early life
Jeanne Baret was born on July 27, 1740, in the village of La Comelle in the Burgundy region of France. Her parents were Jean Baret and Jeanne Pochard. Her father is identified as a day laborer and was probably illiterate, as he did not sign the parish register.
Little is known of Baret's childhood or young adulthood. Historians agree that she lied to Bougainville about her upbringing and education to protect Commerson from being punished for knowing she was a woman. One of the mysteries of her life is how she was educated.
Relationship with Commerson
At some point between 1760 and 1764, Commerson hired Baret as his housekeeper. He had settled in Toulon-sur-Arroux, about 12 miles (19 km) to the south of La Comelle, when he was married in 1760. Commerson's wife, who was the sister of the parish priest, died shortly after giving birth to a son in April 1762. Baret most likely took over management of Commerson's household at that time, if not before.
In 1765, Commerson was invited to join Bougainville's expedition. He was allowed one servant. Baret, who was familiar with his needs because she ran his household and was his nurse, decided to disguise herself as a man and go as his servant. Women were not allowed on French navy ships at this time. She boarded the ship immediately before it sailed and pretended not to know Commerson.
With Bougainville
Baret and Commerson joined the Bougainville expedition at the port of Rochefort in late December 1766. They were assigned to sail on the storeship, the Étoile. Because they had to bring a large amount of equipment on the voyage, the ship's captain, François Chenard de la Giraudais, gave up his large cabin on the ship to Commerson and his "assistant." This allowed Baret to hide the fact that she was a woman because she did not need to share bunks or a toilet with other members of the crew.
Commerson suffered badly from both seasickness and a recurring ulcer on his leg in the early part of the voyage, and Baret probably spent most of her time attending to him. When they reached land, Beret seems to have done most of the actual labor. They connected specimens of plants, stones, and shells in Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, and Patagonia. Baret also helped Commerson organize and catalog their specimens and notes in the weeks that followed, as the ships entered the Pacific.
When they arrived in Tahiti in April 1768, Tahitians surrounded her and cried out that she was a woman. Any rumors of this fact were then proven true. For her safety, she returned to the ship.
After crossing the Pacific, the expedition was desperately short of food. After a brief stop for supplies in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), the ships made a longer stop at the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. This island, known as Isle de France, was then an important French trading station. Commerson was delighted to find that his old friend and fellow botanist Pierre Poivre was serving as governor on the island. Commerson and Baret remained behind as Poivre's guests.
On Mauritius, Baret continued in her role as Commerson's assistant and housekeeper. She may have accompanied him in plant collecting on Madagascar and Bourbon Island in 1770–1772. Commerson's health problems continued, and he died in Mauritius in February 1773. Baret had been granted property in Port Louis in 1770.
Later life
After Commerson's death, Baret ran a tavern in Port Louis. On May 17, 1774, she married Jean Dubernat, a non-commissioned officer in the French Army who was most likely on the island on his way home to France. By the time she married, Jeanne had a small fortune, probably from her tavern and perhaps other businesses on the island.
Historians estimate that Baret and her new husband arrived in France, completing her circumnavigation, sometime in 1775. In April 1776, she received the money that Commerson had left her. She and her husband bought property in his native village of Saint-Aulaye and lived with their nieces and nephews.
She died in Saint-Aulaye on August 5, 1807, at the age of 67.
Legacy
In 2018, the International Astronomical Union named a mountain range on Pluto for her.
For many years, Bougainville's published journal – a popular bestseller in its day, in the original French as well as in English translations – was the only widely available source of information about Baret. The first English-language biography of Baret, by John Dunmore, was published in 2002 in New Zealand.
In 2010, Glynis Ridley wrote another biography titled The Discovery of Jeanne Baret. Ridley's book was read by more people and helped to clarify some misunderstandings about Baret's life.
Interesting facts about Jeanne Baret
- Since she grew up in a rural area, Baret became skilled at gathering and learning about different plants. She became known as the "herb woman."
- Baret had a son in December 1764 and named him Jean-Pierre Baret. She gave him the Paris Foundlings Hospital. He died in the summer of 1765.
- It is believed that Baret was the one who discovered a strange new flowering vine adorned with bright pink and purple flowers. She named the new plant Bougainvillea after the leader of the expedition.
- On land expeditions, Baret carried the heavy, cumbersome wooden plant presses used to preserve botanical specimens.
- She was involved in collecting more than 6,000 plant specimens on the voyage.
- When it was discovered that she was a woman, Baret was not punished, probably because expedition commander Bougainville was so impressed by her work in the field.
- There are four surviving memoirs of the expedition that include Baret in them.
- A new South American species in the potato-tomato family, Solanum baretiae, was named in her honor in 2012.
See also
In Spanish: Jeanne Baret para niños
