Jeanne Baret

Common card · No. 278269

Jeanne Baret ([ʒan baʁɛ]; 27 July 1740 – 5 August 1807) was a French explorer, naturalist, and botanist who is recognised as the first woman to have completed a voyage of circumnavigation of the globe, which she did aboard ship. A key part of her journey was as a member of Louis Antoine de Bougainville's expedition on the ships Boudeuse and Étoile in 1766–1769. Baret joined the expedition disguised as a man, calling herself Jean Baret. She enlisted as valet and assistant to the expedition's naturalist, Philibert Commerson, shortly before Bougainville's ships sailed from France. According to Bougainville's account, Baret was an expert botanist.

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