Ida Laura Reyer-Pfeiffer (1797–1858)

Ida Reyer-Pfeiffer (1797–1858) was a successful travel writer. She was the first European woman to cross the island of Borneo during her second world tour (1851–1855). She had previously travelled to Palestine and Egypt (1842) and the Scandinavian countries of Iceland, Sweden and Norway (1845). Her first world tour (1846–1848) took her via South America to Asia, Persia, the Middle East and the Balkans back to Austria. The 13 books she wrote about her travels became bestsellers and were translated into seven languages.

Ida Laura Reyer-Pfeiffer (1797–1858), black-and-white photograph, 1856, photographer: Franz Hanfstaengl (1804–1877); source: Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ida_Laura_Reyer-Pfeiffer.jpg, public domain.