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Jeanne Baret, first woman to sail round the globe

The first woman who sailed round the globe did so dressed as a man. Nina Sosanya chooses an extraordinary great life.

It all began with a small portrait in the Greenwich museum - of a sexless looking character in wide stripey trousers. Actor Nina Sosanya says she was immediately intrigued. Who was this? Why was she here? And did she really sail round the world dressed as a man?
She discovered that Jeanne Baret was a poor but ingenious French woman who joined Louis Antoine de Bougainville's circumnavigation in 1763. She was dressed as a man because women were not allowed on board. But this was only the beginning of a crazy, often terrifying ordeal.
Joining Nina Sosanya is Glynis Ridley, author of the Discovery of Jeanne Baret. Together they piece together this adventurer's life, from her birth in rural France to her passage round the globe, abandoned on Mauritius and getting back home seven years after everyone else.

Nina Sosanya has starred in Staged, Killing Eve and W1A, often playing extremely likable characters who keep their head while everyone else goes down in flames.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

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28 minutes

Last on

Thu 23 Dec 2021 23:00

Broadcasts

  • Tue 21 Dec 2021 16:30
  • Thu 23 Dec 2021 23:00

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