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Isabelle Eberhardt
Sign in to saveAlso known as Isabelle Wilhelmine Marie Eberhardt, Si Mahmoud Essadi
Swiss explorer and author (1877-1904)
OverviewAI-generated
Isabelle Eberhardt was a human explorer, journalist, and writer born in 1877 and died in 1904. She held citizenship in the Russian Empire, Switzerland, and France. Her native name was Isabelle Eberhardt, and she was also known by the pseudonyms Mahmoud Saadi and Nicolas Podolinsky. She wrote in French and spoke French, Arabic, Russian, and Berber.
Her notable works include Dans l'ombre chaude de l'islam, Trimardeur, L'écriture de sable, Lettres et journaliers, and Amours nomades. She practiced Islam and experienced a religious conversion. She died of accidental drowning in Aïn Séfra, Algeria, where she is buried.
Synthesized by Vinony from 23 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, Open Library. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1877
- Died
- 1904
- Works
- 40
Top works
- Dans l'ombre chaude de l'islam
- Trimardeur
- L'écriture de sable
- Lettres et journaliers
- Amours nomades
via Open Library + Wikidata
Key facts
- Born
- 17 February 1877, Geneva , Switzerland
- Died
- 21 October 1904 (1904-10-21) (aged 27), Aïn Séfra , French Algeria
- Burial place
- Muslim cemetery of Sidi Boudjemâa, west of Aïn Séfra, Algeria
- Other names
- Si Mahmoud Saadi, Nicolas Podolinsky
- Occupations
- Explorer, writer
- Spouse
- Slimane Ehnni ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1901 )
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Isabelle
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- France
- Place of birth
- Switzerland
- Place of death
- Algeria
- Occupation
- writer
- Languages spoken
- Berber
- Religion
- Islam
- Image
- Isabelle Eberhardt.jpg
- Significant event
- religious conversion
Show 11 more facts
- Commons category
- Isabelle Eberhardt
- date of birth
- 1877-02-17
- date of death
- 1904-10-21
- Commons Creator page
- Isabelle Eberhardt
- cause of death
- drowning
- place of burial
- Aïn Séfra
- pseudonym
- Nicolas Podolinsky
- writing language
- French
- name in native language
- Isabelle Eberhardt
- manner of death
- accidental death
- birth name
- Isabelle Wilhelmine Marie Eberhardt
Sources (10)
via Wikidata · CC0
~25 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Isabelle Wilhelmine Marie Eberhardt (17 February 1877 – 21 October 1904) was a Swiss explorer and author. As a teenager, Eberhardt, educated in Switzerland by her father, published short stories under a male pseudonym. She became interested in North Africa, and was considered a proficient writer on the subject despite learning about the region only through correspondence. After an invitation from photographer Louis David, Eberhardt moved to Algeria in May 1897. She dressed as a man and converted to Islam, eventually adopting the name Si Mahmoud Saadi. Eberhardt's unorthodox behaviour made her an outcast among European settlers in Algeria 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 partner, the Algerian soldier Slimane Ehnni. Following her return, Eberhardt wrote for a newspaper published by Victor Barrucand and worked for General Hubert Lyautey. In 1904, at the age of 27, she was killed by a flash flood in Aïn Séfra.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Isabelle Eberhardt” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.