Ida Pfeiffer
World traveler
Austrian explorer and travel writer (1797-1858).
Raised as a tomboy, married off to a much older man, raised her two sons — then at 44, with the boys grown, she set off alone with a small purse and circled the world. Twice. Climbed Vesuvius, sailed up the Amazon, crossed Iceland, lived with Dayak headhunters in Borneo. Sold her travel books to fund the next trip; the Geographical Society had to invent honorary memberships because women couldn't be full members.
Famous for
- Two circumnavigations of the world
- A Lady's Voyage Round the World (1850)
- First woman elected honorary member of the Berlin Geographical Society
- Traveled with Dayak headhunters in Borneo
In Rubicon
Ida Pfeiffer is one of the historical characters you can play as in Rubicon, a trivia game where you answer in your own words and an AI judge reads what you meant. Ida Pfeiffer is filed under Geography & Places, and is strongest at Geography & Places and Nature & Animals.
Others in Geography & Places
- Gertrude Bell — Helped draw modern Iraq
- Ibn Battuta — Medieval world's greatest traveler
- Zheng He — Admiral of China's treasure fleet