Explorer travelers that the world has forgotten

The Explorers Club honors travelers who have not received due recognition […]

It doesn’t matter whether they broke records, pushed boundaries or were pioneers in their fields. The simple fact that they were women was enough to erase them from the memory of the (male) world of explorers.

As researcher Constância Lima Duarte had already defined, it is a “memoricide”. By the way, Duarte is the biographer of Nísia Floresta, another forgotten traveler and Brazil’s first feminist.

“Women who dared to go against the patriarchy were victims of erasure,” Duarte argues in the biography #Nísia Floresta present: an illustrious Brazilian (edited by Mariana Hardi).

With this in mind, the selected Explorers Club, of New York (USA), created the The Society of Forgotten Explorers (The Society of Forgotten Explorersin Portuguese), which pays tribute to pioneer travelers who never received due recognition for their adventures, including some women.

Explorer travelers that the world has forgotten

BERYL MARKHAM

(1902 – 1986)

This British woman is the first woman to fly non-stop across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to North America.

In September 1936 he took off in his Percival Vega Gull plane from Abingdon, England. However, 20 hours later, his plane crashed near Cape Breton, Canada, due to technical problems.

However, Markham secured the pioneering spirit.

FREYA STARK

(1893 – 1993)

Iran, Iraq and Yemen are some of the non-traditional countries of this pioneer traveler who explored the Middle East in the early 20th century.

As the Explorers Club recalls, this French writer not only “challenged social norms and logistical obstacles” but also mapped the Arabian Desert regions in her “vivid narratives with anthropological precision, shedding light on the lives of people often misunderstood or poorly represented in the West.”

GERTRUDE EDERLE

(1905-2003)

This American was the first woman to cross the English Channel, in 1926.

The painful crossing, partly in the dark and without any guide, lasted 14 hours and 34 minutes, that is, 1h59 faster than the five men who crossed this stretch of sea, between Great Britain and France.

To find out more, be sure to watch the beautiful dramatized version of her life, the feature film “The Young Woman and the Sea,” available on the streaming platform streaming Disney+.

HESTER MERWIN AYERS

(1902 – 1975)

This artist originally from Illinois, United States, traveled to places still rare among travelers today, such as Oaxaca, Mexico, Kabul, Afghanistan and Myanmar. However, Ayers would become famous for her portraits of indigenous people, made during her travels.

In 1937, for example, he was co-leader of the “Merwin-Haverlee Expedition”, when he drew the first portraits of the natives of Lapland. From 1968 to 1972 it was Africa’s turn, where Ayers visited Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda with the same purpose.

ISABELLA UCCELLO

(1831 – 1904)

Sick since childhood, this English woman from Yorkshire was advised by a doctor to come into the world.

It wouldn’t be long before the young woman got comfortable with the road (or any other travel itinerary) and set foot in destinations like Hawaii, Australia and the Rocky Mountains, where she climbed Longs Peak, USA. States.

For these and other reasons, the Explorers Club recalls, her daring travels and adventure books led her to be named the first female member of the Royal Geographical Society and from Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

* with information from: explorers.org

Although the Clube dos Exploradores does not mention any Brazilians (much less Brazilians), the Travel by fare I couldn’t leave them out.

More than by Santos Dumont and the Wright brothers, the history of world aviation was also written by women, such as the Brazilians Thereza de Marzo and Anésia Pinheiro Machado, who share the title of the first Brazilian female aviator.

THIRD OF MARCH

(1903 – 1986)

Without family support and with a father who believed that “a woman’s place was the home”, this woman from Sao Paulo is considered the first Brazilian to receive the diploma of international pilot-aviator, whose license was obtained after a flight solo, 7 March 1922.

However, when she married instructor Fritz Roesler four years later, Thereza was banned from continuing to fly, as one aviator in the family was enough. With 329 hours and 54 minutes of flying in her logbook, the Brazilian air pioneer ended her career four years after it began.

On land, Thereza continued to work with her husband in the aviation sector, on projects such as the creation of the Piloting School and Glider Club, in Campo de Marte (SP), where engineer Roesler built the first gliders and ” aircraft” EAY-101. Paulistinha” EAY-201.

ANÉSIA PINHEIRO MACHADO

(1904 – 1999)

This Sao Paulo native, originally from Itapetininga, shares with Thereza the title of Brazil’s first aviator, whose license number 77 was received just one day apart, according to historian Roberto Pereira.

Taught by Fritz Roesler himself, Anésia made her aviation debut on a flight from São Paulo to Santos on the coast of São Paulo. But that wasn’t enough, and months later, she would become known as the first woman to command an interstate flight in Brazil.

The journey between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro was made aboard a single-engine Caudron G3 (“Bandeirante”) and took four days to the final destination. The challenge was to fly only 1.5 hours per day, as it was necessary to make several stops to refuel and maintain the aircraft.

And guess who was waiting for you when you arrived in Rio de Janeiro?

In addition to the authorities, Anésia was received by none other than Alberto Santos Dumont, who gave her a replica of the gold medal received from Princess Isabel, a piece of which the aviator carried with him as an amulet until the end of his life.

Source: Terra

Ben

Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.