In 1914, Bell earned professional recognition from the Royal Geographical Society for work done in northern Arabia. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), in addition to a host of Arabian sheiks and Turkish pashas. Her colleagues included the likes of Lloyd George, Winston Churchill, and T.E. (Public Domain)Īt one point she worked for British Intelligence. British author and archeologist Gertrude Bell in Iraq at the age of 41 in 1909. Her adventures, which were many and varied, are the stuff of stories and much has been written about her extraordinary life and accomplishments, her loves and her losses. Well-educated and well ahead of her time, Bell was certainly a keen cartographer, photographer, and archeologist. It was a visit to her uncle, who lived in Persia in 1892, that sparked a love affair with the Middle East: its people, culture, history, architecture and landscape. I was enchanted as was Kidman with Bell’s character.Ī fiercely independent woman, Bell decided to leave her comfortable life as a debutante in Victorian London and take to the desert. Admittedly, the first I heard of Gertrude Bell was from watching the 2015 biographical film “Queen of the Desert,” starring Nicole Kidman.
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