French botanist and explorer Jeanne Barret was born #OTD in 1740.
She is best known for being the first woman to circumnavigate the globe with Bougainville's expedition on the Boudeuse and Étoile from 1766 to 1769. Disguised as a man, under the name Jean Barret, she enlisted as a valet and assistant to the expedition's naturalist, Philibert Commerson, shortly before the expedition's ships weighed anchor. According to Bougainville, she was an expert in botany.
Edited 54d ago