HaitiLibre Quiz

Famous women 2.1 EXPERT

Difficulty Level: N2 Intermediate
This intermediate difficulty quiz explores figures who are sometimes less publicized, but whose impact on medicine, civil rights or astronomy is fundamental. Take up the challenge and deepen your knowledge of these extraordinary destinies which have shaped our modernity.
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Which 18th-century French explorer and botanist disguised herself as a man to participate in the Bougainville expedition and become the first woman to circumnavigate the world ?

75% of players answered correctly.

THE CORRECT ANSWER: Jeanne Barret

Jeanne Barret is a figure of determination and audacity. In 1766, French laws prohibiting women from boarding Royal Navy ships, she disguised herself as a man under the name "Jean Barret" to accompany the naturalist Philibert Commerson during Louis-Antoine de Bougainville's expedition. During this journey around the globe, she worked as an assistant botanist, collecting thousands of plant specimens, including the famous bougainvillea, named in honor of the captain. His identity is finally discovered during a stopover in Tahiti.Despite the potential scandal, she completed her journey and returned to France years later, officially becoming the first woman to complete a circumnavigation. His expertise in botany and his physical courage in extremely harsh navigation conditions belatedly earned him major historical recognition. She embodies the thirst for discovery that breaks the strictest social conventions.