The Extraordinary Story of Rose de Freycinet

Join us for a conversation with Suzanne Falkiner, author of a biography of Rose de Freycinet, the first woman to write an account of a global circumnavigation.

Suzanne will discuss her research into the incredible story of the young Frenchwoman who was smuggled aboard her husband's ship, the Uranie, in 1817, becoming the only woman on the three-year scientific voyage around the world.

Rose's presence on the voyage was deliberately omitted from official narratives of the journey, and little was known about her life until recently. This talk will focus on a series of original images that demonstrate the process of removing Rose from the final publications.

Attendees will view books, manuscripts and pictures held in the Caroline Simpson Collection that relate to Rose de Freycinet and the voyage of the Uranie in 1817-20.

The conversation will be hosted by Mel Flyte, Collection Discovery Assistant at the Caroline Simpson Library.

About Suzanne Falkiner

Suzanne Falkiner is a Sydney writer. After growing up on a sheep station in central-western NSW, she spent several years travelling in Asia, Europe and South America, and living in Paris, Umbria and New York. Suzanne is the author of 13 books, including Mick: a life of Randolph Stow, which was short-listed for several biography awards. It was while researching this last book that she discovered the story of Rose de Freycinet, as she walked on a remote beach at Shark Bay in Western Australia. Suzanne has always had a fondness for beachcombing in distant places, for which biographical research provides a wonderful excuse.