Gertrude Bell |
Gertrude
Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE, was an English Writer, Traveller and Political
Activist.
From 1899-1904, Gertrude Bell
travelled extensively and conquered many mountains including La Meije and Mont
Blanc. One Alpine Peak in Bernese
Oberland, Gertrudspitze, was even named after her.
In the years 1907-13, Bell travelled
extensively throughout the Middle East, during which time she met with T. E.
Lawrence. The two of them helped to
establish the Hashemite dynasties in what is now Jordan and in Iraq. During this time, Bell also took part in many
archaeological digs in places like Damascus, Jerusalem and Beirut. She also became the second foreign woman to
visit Ha’il. The first being Lady Anne
Blunt.
Gertrude Bell was also Honorary
Secretary of the Woman’s Anti-Suffrage League.
Despite her own political achievements, she was very much opposed to
women’s suffrage. She felt that many
women were not yet ready for making important political decisions.
At the outbreak of World War I, Bell
was denied a post in the Middle East, so she settled for volunteering for the
Red Cross in France. She was later
recruited by British Intelligence to help get soldiers through the Middle
Eastern Desert. Gertrude Bell became the
only woman to hold political power, working for the British Government in
Cairo. Throughout her time in the Middle East, she
managed to form a close relationship with many members of its local
tribes.
After the war, she helped to
determine the boundaries of what is now modern day Iraq from the Ottoman
Provinces. She played the part of
mediator between the Arab Government and British Officials.
Bell’s first love was archaeology,
and she formed the Baghdad Archaeological Museum, later renamed Iraqi Museum,
in order to preserve Iraqi history and culture.
The museum was opened shortly before her death and the right wing was
named as a memorial to her memory.
Gertrude Bell returned briefly to
Britain in 1925, only to be faced with poor health and family financial
problems. She soon returned to Baghdad
where she was struck down with pleurisy.
Gertrude died in 1926 from an overdose of sleeping pills, possibly
accidental. She is buried in the British
cemetery in Baghdad. Her funeral was
attended by many people, including the King of Iraq, who watched the procession
from his private balcony.
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