The forgotten voyage of Jeanne Baret, the first woman to circumnavigate the globe

In the 1760s, when women in Europe had few legal rights and even fewer opportunities for formal science, one woman secretly sailed around the world. She did it dressed as a man, hiding in plain sight on a French expedition.

Her name was Jeanne Baret, and for a long time she appeared in records only as a footnote. Her story is not just an adventure tale. It also reveals how much knowledge and talent could be lost when whole groups of people were kept out of science and exploration.

Who was Jeanne Baret?

Jeanne Baret was born in 1740 in a rural part of France. She grew up in a poor family and worked as a servant and field hand. There is no evidence she ever attended school, which makes what happened later even more striking.

In her twenties she began working for Philibert Commerson, a physician and naturalist. He was preparing plant collections and needed help with fieldwork: collecting, pressing and organizing specimens. Baret became his assistant, and it seems clear that she quickly developed real expertise with plants.

A world hungry for new plants

At the time, European powers were sending expeditions around the globe to chart coasts, claim territories and, crucially, gather useful plants. Spices, medicines and new crops could be as valuable as gold. Naturalists sailed with naval officers to catalogue what they found.

France planned one such voyage under the command of Louis Antoine de Bougainville. Commerson was chosen as the expedition naturalist. He was in poor health and needed a skilled assistant. Women, however, were officially banned from serving on French navy ships.

The disguise and the decision

Somewhere between planning and departure, Commerson and Baret took a risk that could have gone very badly. Baret joined the expedition disguised as a young man, using the name “Jean.” The official records list her as Commerson’s valet and assistant.

How exactly they managed the deception is not fully documented. Surviving accounts suggest that Commerson had a private cabin for his work and health, which made it easier to hide Baret’s identity for a time. The crew initially accepted that the small, quiet “Jean” was simply a bookish servant.

Work on deck and in the field

Once at sea, Baret was not just a passenger. She collected plants during landings, helped carry heavy equipment, and assisted with the difficult work of pressing and preserving delicate specimens so they would survive the long journey home.

On many stops she and Commerson went inland, walking long distances with heavy loads, often in unfamiliar climates. Later testimonies from the voyage suggest that Baret was remarkably tough and resourceful, sometimes carrying more weight than some of the sailors.

An encounter in South America

One of the most important stops was along the coast of what is now South America. There, Commerson and Baret collected a bright purple-flowered vine. Commerson later described and named it Bougainvillea, after the expedition leader, not after himself or his assistant.

It is likely that Baret played a key role in finding and preparing this and many other specimens, yet her name does not appear in the formal botanical descriptions. This was typical of the time. Assistants, especially those without formal titles or university training, were rarely credited.

The discovery of her identity

As the voyage went on, hiding her identity became harder. Long months at sea and cramped quarters meant constant proximity. Different sources disagree on when exactly the crew discovered that “Jean” was Jeanne, but by the time the ships reached the Pacific the rumor was out.

Some accounts, written years later, describe a tense episode when Pacific islanders supposedly recognized that Baret was a woman before the crew did. Historians treat these dramatic stories with caution, since they were filtered through later memories and may be embellished.

Violence, risk and survival

The consequences for Baret were serious. Women on navy ships were not just forbidden, they were seen as a disruption to discipline. More importantly for her personally, there were real dangers once her disguise was gone. Later reports indicate that she faced harassment and likely violence from some members of the crew.

Officials eventually “solved” the problem by leaving her and Commerson behind on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, which was then under French control. They did not return to France with Bougainville.

Years on an island and a long way home

On Mauritius, Commerson continued to collect plants with Baret’s help. The island and nearby Madagascar were rich in species that were new to European science. Over time, Commerson’s health deteriorated and he died there, leaving Baret alone and far from home.

Baret stayed on the island for several years, running a small business and building enough stability to plan a return. Eventually, she secured passage back to Europe on a different ship. When she finally arrived in France, she had been away for more than a decade.

The first woman to go around the world

By completing her return journey, Jeanne Baret became, as far as surviving records show, the first woman to circumnavigate the globe. The French government later granted her a modest pension that acknowledged her service on the expedition.

It took much longer for her contribution to science to be recognized more widely. Modern botanists have revisited Commerson’s collections and found notes that suggest Baret was deeply involved with identifying and gathering many of the plants.

Why her story matters today

Jeanne Baret’s life highlights how many stories disappear when history focuses only on official titles and famous names. She had no degree, no formal role, and yet she carried out demanding scientific fieldwork under conditions that would challenge trained professionals today.

Her story also reminds us that scientific discovery depends on teams: porters, illustrators, assistants, guides and local experts in the places expeditions visited. Many of these people were women, Indigenous specialists or laborers whose knowledge rarely entered formal records.

What we can learn from forgotten figures

Remembering someone like Baret offers a few practical lessons. When reading history, it helps to ask who is missing from the main narrative. Whose work made the “great achievements” possible, even if their names are not on the front page or the title page?

It is also a prompt to pay attention to expertise wherever we find it. Baret probably learned her early plant knowledge from the countryside around her, not from a university. Skills built outside formal institutions can still shape important work, even if they are not recognized at the time.

Tracing Jeanne Baret’s legacy

Today, some botanists have named plant species in her honor, a small attempt to balance earlier omissions. Researchers continue to piece together her life from scattered documents: pay records, ship logs, pension files and letters from other members of the expedition.

Parts of her story are still uncertain, and details may never be fully known. Yet the outline is clear enough to recognize her as a significant figure in the history of exploration. She was a person who crossed boundaries that her society tried hard to enforce.

For anyone interested in how knowledge actually moves through the world, Jeanne Baret’s voyage is a reminder to look beyond official heroes and seek the hidden hands that carried the specimens, took the notes and stayed mostly out of the frame.