Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie (David) David-Néel (1868 - 1969)

Born 24 Oct 1868 in Saint-Mandé, Seine, France

Ancestors

Wife of Philippe François (Neel) Néel — married 4 Aug 1904 in Tunis, Tunisie

Died 8 Sep 1969 at age 100 in Digne, Basses-Alpes, France

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Biography

Alexandra (David) David-Néel is Notable.

Alexandra (David) David-Néel was a centenarian, living to age 100.

Alexandra David-Néel was a French explorer, author, opera singer, and early French convert to Buddhism. She is believed to be the first woman of European background to visit Lhasa, Tibet.

Ancestry

Biographies of Alexandra David-Néel have often discussed her ancestry, repeating unproven assertions regarding her background. One such biography described her as having a Huguenot father who was the nephew of Jacques-Louis David, while also stating that her mother's family was one of means and that her ethnic background was Dutch, Norwegian, and Siberian.^[1]. It is quite possible that these claims were made by David-Néel herself. Regardless of source, they are worth examining more critically.

A review of the documentary evidence paints a portrait that is quite different than what is often proclaimed. First, there is no reason to believe her father, whose family hailed from eastern France, had any close ancestral tie to the famed painter, a native of Paris. Further, while her father may have been a committed Protestant, it isn't clear that his religious beliefs came from ancestral ties. In fact, both of his parents were baptised Catholics.

Her mother's ancestry is also quite confusing. It is known that her birth mother, Alexandrine Borgmans, was born to an unknown father and a single mother in Brussels in 1832. Her grandmother, Catherine, was abandonned as a baby in 1809, so no assesments can be made of Alexandra David-Néel's maternal ethnic background.

However, claims about her mother coming from a privileged background have proven somewhat true. Catherine, Alexandra's grandmother, an orphan, was "adopted" (it is unclear if it was formalized or not) by Maria Anna Borghmans, spouse of the landowner Carolus Van der Buecken, both of whom were said to be living off the passive income of their land ("rentier"). Furthermore, Maria Anna Borghmans was born in the Netherlands, so she may be who was thought off when claiming David-Néel had Dutch ancestry.

Early Life

Named Louise Eugénie Alexandrine Marie David at birth, she was born on 24 October 1868 in Saint-Mandé, an inner-ring suburb of Paris. She was the daughter of Louis Pierre David and Alexandrine Borghmans. Her parents are both listed as being without profession at the time of her birth.^[2] She had a younger brother, Jules Louis Alexandre Marie, who was born four years later.

Marriage

She married Philippe François Néel on 4 August 1904 in Tunis.^[2]

Later Years and Death

She died on 8 September 1969 in Digne.^[2]

Sources

1. ↑ Middleton, Ruth. Alexandra David-Neel: Portrait of an Adventurer. Shambhala, 1989.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} acte de naissance: Archives départementales du Val-de-Marne: Saint-Mandé, Naissances, 1866-1870, Cote 1MI 2594, acte 77, vue 78, consulté le 1er novembre 2018

• Contributeurs de Wikipédia, "Alexandra David-Néel," Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre, https://fr.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alexandra_David-N%C3%A9el&oldid=153738206 (Page consultée le novembre 6, 2018).

• Wikidata: Item Q230456, en:Wikipedia