Yesterday, I mentioned Oz. One of the munchkins was named Gertrude H. Rice.
I don’t know any Gertrudes. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever met a Gertrude.
There have been some famous ones in history. Probably the most recognizable is Gertrude Stein, the author and so much more.
Many times, the name “Gertrude” is given to some goose in a children’s book. Or as a character in Hamlet.
Nonetheless, one of the most incredible Gertrudes might be Gertrude Bell, a woman born in England in 1868.
But she wore a lot of hats in her lifetime. Especially for a woman in that day and age. For instance, during World War I, she was one of many British spies in the Middle East. But our Gertrude was a super spy. She helped orchestrate the end of the Ottoman Empire.
Okay, brief segue.
The Ottoman Empire. I always think of those leather footstools that sit in front of big overstuffed chairs. And when I hear of the Ottoman Empire? I picture those stools everywhere. I mean. Every. Where. I once saw an ottoman made from an elephant’s foot. I hated seeing that thing.
Anyway, back to Gertrude. She was also an archaeologist, a writer, explorer, mountain climber, and the first woman to receive a degree in Modern History from Oxford University.
I am not sure why I have such an interest in her, but I always stop to read her accounts when I see them. Perhaps because she committed suicide for largely unknown reasons. Some say it was because her health had not been good. Others speculate that she had never found her one true love. But no one really knows except for Gertrude.
As I mentioned, she was born in England (1868). She had one brother and three half-siblings. The family was well-to-do. But that’s where her typical “foo-foo” life stopped.
She was a bit of a female version of Indiana Jones. She had an obsession with Persia, which all began when she visited her uncle, Sir Frank Lascelles. He was stationed in Persia as a British ambassador. And after that visit, she became focused on the region. In fact, she spent the majority of her life in that area of the world.
Many older Iraqi citizens consider Gertrude Bell to be one of their own. Those people called her the “unofficial Queen of Iraq.” For good reason. She played an important part in the formation of the country, which gained its independence after the fall of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
I wonder why she was so drawn to that area? She loved the country so much she permanently moved there in 1917 and is buried in an old British cemetery on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Jumping back a few years. At the start of World War I in 1914, she volunteered to work for the Red Cross and assist the war effort by helping wounded soldiers. She went straight to France, where the battles were taking place.
But there was something about Gertrude. She was quickly recruited by British Intelligence and sent to spy on the workings of the Ottoman Empire. She also helped in orchestrating the fall of that group.
Gertrude interacted with people like T. E. Lawrence. He’s better known as Lawrence of Arabia, and others like Sir William Ramsay. Although Gertrude Bell never married nor had children, she did have several love affairs throughout her life.
I’d like to learn more about her, as she seems a bit of a mystery to me.
Bell died in her sleep in 1926. As mentioned earlier, most historians say that she committed suicide. An overdose of sleeping pills. She was 57 years old. Whatever the case, Bell led an utterly fascinating and compelling life. A woman of many accomplishments.
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I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.
— Pablo Picasso
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Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.
— Thomas Huxley
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Study strategy over the years and achieve the spirit of the warrior. Today is victory over yourself of yesterday.
— Miyamoto Musashi
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Those Gertrudes. Indiana Gertrude, in this case.
