Isabelle Eberhardt, Swiss Cross-Dresser and Writer
Isabelle Wilhelmine Marie Eberhardt (February 17, 1877 - October 21, 1904) was a Swiss explorer and writer. As a teenager she published short stories under a male pseudonym. She became interested in North Africa and, after an invitation from photographer Louis David, moved to Algeria in May 1897. There she dressed as a man and converted to Islam, eventually adopting the name Si Mahmoud Saadi. Her unorthodox behavior made her an outcast to European settlers and the French administration. Eberhardt's acceptance by the Qadiriyya, an Islamic order, convinced the French administration that she was a spy or an agitator. She survived an assassination attempt shortly thereafter. In 1901 the French administration ordered her to leave Algeria, but she was allowed to return the following year after marrying her long-time partner, the Slimane Ehnni. She wrote for a newspaper published by Victor Barrucand and worked for General Hubert Lyautey. In 1904, she was killed by a flash flood in AÌøn Sefra, at the age of 27. No photographer credited, undated.
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