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In 1923, a fifty-five-year-old Frenchwoman named Madame Alexandra David-Neel disguised herself as a male pilgrim and ascended to the ancient Tibetan city of Lhasa. David-Neel''s recounting of her journey is one of the great travelogues of the twentieth century, filled with adventure and danger and set against the spectacular backdrop of one of the world''s most remarkable cultures. Tibet was still forbidden to Westerners when David-Neel, accompanied by her adopted son Yongden and aided by her fluent knowledge of Tibetan dialects, made the dangerous journey into its spiritual and cultural heart. En route, she faced rugged terrain, outbreaks of disease, and the constant threat of expulsion; she also became the first Western woman to be received by the Dalai Lama, as well as a recognized expert on Tibetan religion and culture. Alexandra David-Neel was born in Paris in 1868. After studying eastern religions in Paris, she toured the Far and Middle East and North Africa as an opera singer. In 1904 she married Philippe Francois Neel in Tunis: they separated almost immediately, but he financed many of her later travels and they regularly wrote to each other up to the time of his death in 1941. David-Neel spent years traveling throughout Asia, where she studied Buddhism and became a Lama. She wrote several books about her travels, including My Journey to Lhasa and Magic and Mystery in Tibet. She was awarded many honors, including the Grande Medaille d''Or of La Societe de Geographie. She died just before her 101st birthday, in 1969. ''Frenchwoman Alexandra David-Neel was exceptional.'' - His Holiness the Dalai Lama
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An indomitable traveler, singer, journalist, and religious adept, Alexandra David-Neel (1868–1969) was awarded a Gold Medal by the Geographical Society of Paris and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor.
