Gertrude Bell (1868 – 1926) – British English writer, traveller, administrator, archaeologist and spy - involved in establishing and administering the modern state of Iraq. 'Liaison Officer' during WW1

Gertrude was born on 14th July 1868 in Co. Durham, UK. Her parents were Sir Hugh Bell, 2nd Baronet, three times Mayor of Middlesborough and a director of the family firm Bell Brothers Ironworks’ steelworks in Middlesbrough, and his wife, Maria, nee Shield.  Gertrude had a brother, Maurice, who was born in 1871. Gertrude’s Mother died when she was three years old, which meant that she formed a close relationship with her father.

In 1876, Gertrude’s Father married Florence Eveleen Eleanore Olliffe, a playwright and writer of children's fiction.  Gertrude was educated at Queen's College, London, before going on to study at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where she obtained a First Class Honours Degree in Modern History.

Portrait of Sir Hugh Bell, with Gertrude Bell,
by Edward Poynter, in 1876

After her graduation from university, Gertrude travelled to Persia with her uncle, Sir Frank Lascelles, who was appointed British Minister at Tehran (similar to the post of Ambassador). The next few years were spent travelling - especially in Arabia -  mountaineering and learning languages. Gertrude became fluent in Arabic, Persian, French, German, Italian and Turkish.

During her travels in Arabia, Gertrude met T.E. Lawrence, with whom she shared a love of the Arab peoples.  Gertrude translated and published the work of the fourteenth century Sufi poet, Hafiz into English to great acclaim.

When war broke out in 1914, Gertrude went to work with the Red Cross in France. In 1915, she was summoned to Cairo to work for the Arab Bureau. On 3rd March 1916 she was sent to Basra and on 10th March 1917 to Baghdad. According to Gertrude's reports at the time, "…there were not
many (if any) permanent solutions for calming the divisive forces at work in that part of the world".

Gertrude Bell and T.E. Lawrence

When the Ottoman Empire was split up after the War, Gertrude was given the task of reporting on the situation in Mesopotamia as, by that time, she was an expert on the tribes in the area. Gertrude returned to England in 1925, where her family fortunes had suffered in the aftermath of the war. She returned to Baghdad and was treated for Pleurisy. Her half brother, Hugo, died of Typhoid. Gertrude died in Baghdad on 12th July 1926.

Gertrude’s Obituary, published in "The Geographical Journal" and written by her colleague and fellow archaelogist – David George (D.G.) Hogarth - stated: "No woman in recent time has combined her qualities – her taste for arduous and dangerous adventure with her scientific interest and knowledge, her competence in archaeology and art, her distinguished literary gift, her sympathy for all sorts and condition of men, her political insight and appreciation of human values, her masculine vigour, hard common sense and practical efficiency – all tempered by feminine charm and a most romantic spirit."

After Gertrude's death, her stepmother, by then Dame Florence Bell, published two volumes of Gertrude's letters written during the preceding twenty years. Gertrude is buried in the British Cemetery in Baghdad. A stained glass window in the church of St. Lawrence, East Rounton, North Yorkshire is dedicated to her memory.

Source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertrude_Bell