If I told you that a person can travel around the entire globe, you’d most likely be unimpressed because of course – nowadays, we have what seems to be a million different ways to travel in somewhat good comfort around the globe with exceptional speed. All these modern travel luxuries such as commercial planes, ships (cruise lines included!), cars, and buses make it relatively simple to voyage and explore anywhere you desire. But what if I told you that it didn’t always used to be that way, and in fact, traveling around the world was an exceptional feat – especially, if you were a woman!
In the 1700s, women were prohibited from traversing the seas on navy ships. Yet, surprisingly, the first woman to break away from this status quo was not a famous navigator, nor a distinguished person of wealth. Instead, the first woman to ever traverse the globe by ship – was a housemaid!
Jeanne Baret was, and still is, considered the first woman to set sail around the world. Not only this, but she managed to distinguish herself as an amazing botanist on her travels across the sea.
Born on July 27, 1740, Baret had an unfortunate upbringing as she became orphaned at the age of fifteen. Losing her parents and her family’s already impoverished wealth – Baret had no choice but to become employed as a housemaid of Philibert Commerson, a wealthy French naturalist and voyager, and later, Baret’s lover. Baret quickly became an important asset for Commerson and often helped him in his scientific studies as his assistant and doubled as his nurse.
During this time, it is believed that Jeanne Baret had little to no thoughts about navigating the seas. In fact, it was a coincidence that she got invited on a naval expedition by Commerson in December of 1766 after he himself received an invitation from Louis XV (the king of France) for a three-year expedition across the globe to discover and open trading opportunities with other continents.
Yet, despite Baret’s invitation from Commerson and her willingness to go, women were prohibited from sailing on naval vessels. That was until the idea arose for Baret to board the ship not as a woman – but as a man!
So, in late December of 1766, Jeanne Baret took the name Jean Baret to further solidify her disguise and boarded the storeship, the “Étoile” alongside Commerson. On her voyage on the ship, Baret traveled to many places such as Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, and Patagonia. She gained a reputation for her intelligence, strength, and courage, as she had become the best laborer on the ship and on their expeditions as she carried heavy field equipment and plant samples through rugged terrain back to the vessel.
Even after being discovered to be a woman on a stop to Tahiti in 1768, she continued to travel to New Ireland and Indonesia before leaving the Étoile in November of 1768 alongside Commersen on the island of Mauritius. Together, Baret and Commersen continued their travels and botany expeditions to Madagascar Bourbon Island from 1770-1772 until Commersen’s eventual death in February a year later.
Now alone, Baret made her way back to France which officially made her the very first woman to sail across the globe. Unfortunately, Jeanne Baret was unrecognized for this historical feat until many years after her death on the 5th of August in 1807. Not only did her navigational feats go unrewarded, but also her botanic feats. Jeanne Beret was responsible for collecting over 6,000 plant species and discovering many new ones. A particularly recognizable species of plant she identified with her team on her travels was the Bougainvillaea flowering vine, which we can see in many places in our local areas!
Like most women pioneers, Jeanne Baret was not recognized for her accomplishments until many years after her death despite leaving a lasting impression on the history of navigation and botany. Today we can recognize Baret for her awe-inspiring story of accomplishment and achievement despite her uneducated background and the difficulties she had as a woman. In the present day we recognize Baret’s scientific achievements that were originally credited to Commersen (that now stand corrected and given the credit due back to Beret) – such as in 2012 when a species of nightshade was named after the young navigator (Solanum Baretiae) and six years later, also had a range of mountains on Pluto named after her as well (the Baret Montes!)
