Jeanne Baret Sails Around the World in Disguise

In late December 1766, Jeanne Baret arrived at the French naval port of Rochefort disguised as a young man. A royal ordinance strictly barred women from boarding French navy vessels, but Baret had arranged to enlist as Jean Baret, serving as personal assistant and valet to the naturalist Philibert Commerson. Commerson had received an appointment to accompany an ambitious expedition around the globe, yet persistent ill health made him reliant on Baret, who had managed his household and studied botanical practice alongside him in Paris. To avoid close official scrutiny, Baret presented herself as an unknown applicant just before their assigned storeship, the Étoile, prepared to set sail.

Baret gained vital protection when the vessel's commander, François Chenard de la Giraudais, surrendered his spacious cabin to accommodate Commerson and his extensive equipment. This quarters granted Baret rare privacy, sparing her the communal spaces of the crowded crew. Commerson suffered from acute seasickness and an open ulcer on his leg throughout the early voyage, leaving Baret to tend to his medical needs. Once the expedition reached South America, she shouldered the bulk of the physical botanical field labour. During treks across the plains and mountains near Montevideo and Rio de Janeiro, Baret hauled gear, provisions, and botanical specimens, including a distinctive flowering vine that Commerson named Bougainvillea.