Alexandra David-Neel, explorer
Oct. 24, 1868-Sept. 8, 1969
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Far Beyond the Gate: Alexandra David-Neel's Journey to Lhasa by Don Brown (Houghton Mifflin, 2002)
David-Neel did not represent the norm. This intrepid Victorian traveler and opera singer gloried in journeying to remote parts of the world. She became and the first Western woman to enter Lhasa, Tibet in 1924.
A bio on Alexandra David-Neel's web site offers additional info.