The Story of Ida Pfeiffer

This classic world travelogue tells the tale of a quiet, silent woman who travelled nearly 20,000 miles by land and 150,000 miles by sea; visiting regions which no European had previously penetrated, or where the bravest men had found it difficult to make their way. Ida Laura Pfeiffer (14 October 1797, Vienna - 27 October 1858, Vienna), née Reyer, was an Austrian traveler and travel book author. She was one of the first female explorers, whose popular books were translated into seven languages. She was a member of geographical societies of both Berlin and Paris, but not of Royal Geographical Society in London because she was a woman and in those days they thought women weren't capable of serious thoughts. The daughter of a wealthy merchant named Reyer, she was born in Vienna. As a child, she preferred boys' clothing and liked sports and exercise, which was encouraged by her father. She received the education usually given to a boy. Her first long journey was a trip to Palestine and Egypt when she was five years old. The influence of this experience remained with her. Following the death of her father when she was nine, her mother - disapproving this unconventional upbringing - persuaded Ida to wear girls' clothing and to take up piano lessons. After Napoleon, emperor of the French, conquered Vienna in 1809, some of the French troops were quartered in Reyer's home to Ida's dislike. During the grand review held in Schönbrunn Palace, she protested against foreign occupation by turning her back as Napoleon rode past. On May 1, 1820, Ida Pfeiffer married Dr. Mark Anton Pfeiffer, a lawyer in Lemberg, (now Lviv, Ukraine) connected with the Austrian government, who was 24 years her senior and a widower with a grown-up son. Dr. Pfeiffer made enemies by exposing corrupted Austrian officials in Galicia and was forced to resign. Subsequently, he found it difficult to find a job and in order to support her family, and due to their poverty Ida gave drawing and music lessons. The financial situation of the family improved only after the death of her mother in 1831, and with this small inheritance Ida Pfeiffer was able to hire better teachers for her two sons. Her husband died 7 years later in 1838. In 1846 Ida Pfeiffer started on a journey round the world, visiting Brazil, Chile and other countries of South America, Tahiti, China, India, Persia, Asia Minor and Greece, and reaching home in 1848. The results were published in Eine Frau fährt um die Welt (3 vols., Vienna, 1850; English translation: A Woman's Journey round the World, London, 1850). In 1851 Ida Pfeiffer went to England and to South Africa, intending to penetrate into the interior; this proved impracticable, but she proceeded to the Malay archipelago, spending eighteen months in the Sunda Islands, where she visited the Dyaks of Borneo and was one of the first people to report on the behavior of the Bataks in Sumatra, and the Malukus. After a visit to Australia, Madame Pfeiffer proceeded to California, Oregon, Peru, Ecuador, New Granada, and north again to the Great Lakes, reaching home in 1854. Her narrative, Meine zweite Weltreise ("My second trip around the world"), was published at Vienna in 1856 (English translation: Second Journey round the World, London, 1857). In May 1857 Ida Pfeiffer set out to explore Madagascar, where at first she was cordially received by the queen Ranavalona I. She unwittingly allowed herself to be involved in a plot to overthrow the government together with a few other Europeans, namely Jean Laborde and Joseph-François Lambert in apparent collaboration with crown prince Rakoto (the future king Radama II). Upon learning of the attempted coup, the queen executed the Malagasy involved but spared the Europeans, whom she expelled from the country in July 1857.