Gertrude Bell

Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell, CBE was an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, spy and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policymaking due to her knowledge and contacts, built up through extensive travels in Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia. Along with T. E. Lawrence, Bell helped establish the Hashemite dynasties in what is today Jordan as well as in Iraq.

Bell was born onJuly 1868 in Washington New Hall, County Durham, England now known as Dame Margaret Hall to a family whose wealth enabled her travels. She is described as having reddish hair and piercing bluegreen eyes, with her mothers bow shaped lips and rounded chin, her fathers oval face and pointed nose. Her personality was characterised by energy, intellect, and a thirst for adventure which shaped her path in life. Her grandfather was the ironmaster Sir Isaac Lowthian Bell, an industrialist and a Liberal Member of Parliament, in Benjamin Disraelis second term. His role in British policymaking exposed Gertrude at a young age to international matters and most likely encouraged her curiosity for the world, and her later involvement in international politics.

Source: Wikipedia