Born October 24, 1868,
Paris, France
Died September 8, 1969,
Digne, France

Alexandra David-Neel experienced life as a Buddhist firsthand, both as a scholar and as a visitor to monasteries. Widely traveled, she was the first European woman to travel to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, which was closed to Westerners.

David-Neel was born in the Paris suburb of Saint-Mandé on October 24, 1868. Her father was a French journalist and her mother was from Belgium. Because her parents had an unhappy marriage she spent a lonely childhood. She ran away from home several times, and she immersed herself in books about Eastern religions and philosophy. Because of her interest in non-Christian religions, she traveled to India when she was in her early twenties. She was unable to afford a lengthy stay abroad, however, and soon returned to France. In 1894 she began singing with an opera company under the stage name...