Ida Laura Pfeiffer

Viennese world traveler

Ida Laura Pfeiffer (14 October 1797, Vienna – 27 October 1858, Vienna), née Reyer, was an Austrian explorer, travel writer, and ethnographer.She was one of the first female travelers, whose bestselling journals were translated into seven languages.

She journeyed an estimated 32,000 kilometres (20,000 mi) by land and 240,000 kilometres (150,000 mi) by sea through Southeast Asia, the Americas, Middle East, and Africa, including two trips around the world from 1846 to 1855.

She was a member of geographical societies of both Berlin and Paris, but was denied membership by the Royal Geographical Society in London as it forbade the election of women before 1913.