Dame Freya Madeline Stark

1893-1993

British Explorer and Writer

Freya Madeline Stark was a British explorer who lived during a time when explorers were regarded as heroes. She traveled to remote areas of the Middle East, where few Europeans—especially women—had traveled before. She also traveled extensively in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Nepal, and Afghanistan. She was awarded the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1972. Through her writings, she contributed to our knowledge and understanding of the people, landscapes, and conditions unique to the world between World War I and World War II.

Stark was born in Paris in 1893 to British expatriate parents. Although she had no formal education as a child, she moved about with her artist parents and learned French, German, and Italian. She entered the University of London in 1912, but with the entry of Britain into World War I, she joined the nurse corps and was assigned to Italy. After the war she returned to London and attended the School of Oriental Studies. This work led to extensive travel in the Middle East, enabling her to eventually become fluent in Persian, Russian, and Turkish.

Stark initially made her reputation as a traveler and explorer in the Middle East while working with the British government service. During this time, most of the Middle East was controlled by the British and French, largely because the League of Nations, (forerunner to the United Nations) had given them the former Arab territories of the Ottoman Empire as "mandates" and "protectorates." After World War I ended in 1918, Britain received Palestine, Transjordan (Jordan), and Mesopotamia (now Iraq). France received Syria and Lebanon. In addition, the British occupied Egypt in the 1880s and had control of the Suez Canal, and the British Museum had extensive collections of Egyptian antiquities. The British government had converted the Royal Navy from coal to oil prior to World War I, ensuring that the British would maintain a permanent stronghold in the oil-rich Middle East. It was this world of ancient Arabian and Persian cultures, British and French intrigues, and resulting power plays that Freya Stark traveled and wrote about.

In 1927 at age 33, she saved enough money to travel to Lebanon and study the Arabic language. In 1928 she and a friend traveled by donkey to the Jebel Druze, a mountainous area in French-controlled Syria. Because the Druze resisted the French rule, the area was off limits to foreigners. She and her friend were arrested by French authorities on suspicion of espionage. During another trip, she remapped a distant region of the Elburz, a mountain range in Iran. She was searching for information about an ancient Muslim sect known as the Assassins, which during the thirteenth century had engaged in the widespread murder of Christians. She recounted this journey in Valley of the Assassins (1934), a classic tale that won the prestigious Gold Medal from the Royal Geographic Society. For the next 12 years she traveled and wrote, establishing her style combining travel and personal commentary on the people, places, customs, history, and politics of her travels in the Middle East.

During World War II Stark was recruited by the British government to help convince the Arab world to support the Allied cause. She worked for the British Ministry of Information in Aden, Baghdad, and Cairo. During this time she established the anti-Nazi Brotherhood of Freedom, an organization formed to educate and prepare the Arab world for its probable freedom after the war was over. The Nazi regime countered with massive propaganda to influence the Arabs to its side. Frequently under enemy fire, she traveled through the Arab world as a loyal supporter of the British Empire and influenced many individuals to the Allied cause.

After World War II, Stark authored 20 books, becoming a famous author and sought-after speaker in Europe. She was honored by the Queen of England with the order of Dame of the British Empire for her dedication and service in support of Great Britain. In 1993 she died in Italy at the age of 100.

LESLIE HUTCHINSON