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Freya Stark in Southern Arabia
The magnificent canyons of Wadi Hadhramaut inspired Freya Stark to produce some of her best photographs. Dame Freya's particular empathy with local people resulted in charming pictures of people she worked or travelled with, and the homes and costumes of the period.
- GenresNonfiction
120 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1997
About the author
Freya Stark
134 books181 followersFreya Stark was born in Paris, where her parents were studying art. Her mother, Flora, was an Italian of Polish/German descent; her father, Robert, an English painter from Devon.
In her lifetime she was famous for her experiences in the Middle East, her writing and her cartography. Freya Stark was not only one of the first Western women to travel through the Arabian deserts (Hadhramaut), she often travelled solo into areas where few Europeans, let alone women, had ever been.
She spent much of her childhood in North Italy, helped by the fact that Pen Browning, a friend of her father, had bought three houses in Asolo. She also had a grandmother in Genoa. For her 9th birthday she received a copy of the One Thousand and One Nights, and became fascinated with the Orient. She was often ill while young, and confined to the house, so found an outlet in reading. She delighted in reading French, in particular Dumas, and taught herself Latin. When she was 13 she had an accident in a factory in Italy, when her hair got caught in a machine, and she had to spend four months getting skin grafts in hospital, which left her face slightly disfigured.
She later learned Arabic and Persian, studied history in London and during World War I worked as a nurse in Italy, where her mother had remained and taken a share in a business. Her sister, Vera, married the co-owner.
In November 1927 she visited Asolo for the first time in years, and later that month boarded a ship for Beirut, where her travels in the East began. She based herself first at the home of James Elroy Flecker in Lebanon and then in Baghdad, where she met the British high commissioner.
By 1931 she had completed three dangerous treks into the wilderness of western Iran, in parts of which no Westerner had ever been before, and had located the long-fabled Valleys of the Assassins (hashish-eaters). During the 1930s she penetrated the hinterland of southern Arabia, where only a handful of Western explorers had previously ventured and then never as far or as widely as she went.
During World War II, she joined the British Ministry of Information and contributed to the creation of a propaganda network aimed at persuading Arabs to support the Allies or at least remain neutral. She wrote more than two dozen books based on her travels, almost all of which were published by John Murray in London, with whom she had a successful and long-standing working relationship.
In her lifetime she was famous for her experiences in the Middle East, her writing and her cartography. Freya Stark was not only one of the first Western women to travel through the Arabian deserts (Hadhramaut), she often travelled solo into areas where few Europeans, let alone women, had ever been.
She spent much of her childhood in North Italy, helped by the fact that Pen Browning, a friend of her father, had bought three houses in Asolo. She also had a grandmother in Genoa. For her 9th birthday she received a copy of the One Thousand and One Nights, and became fascinated with the Orient. She was often ill while young, and confined to the house, so found an outlet in reading. She delighted in reading French, in particular Dumas, and taught herself Latin. When she was 13 she had an accident in a factory in Italy, when her hair got caught in a machine, and she had to spend four months getting skin grafts in hospital, which left her face slightly disfigured.
She later learned Arabic and Persian, studied history in London and during World War I worked as a nurse in Italy, where her mother had remained and taken a share in a business. Her sister, Vera, married the co-owner.
In November 1927 she visited Asolo for the first time in years, and later that month boarded a ship for Beirut, where her travels in the East began. She based herself first at the home of James Elroy Flecker in Lebanon and then in Baghdad, where she met the British high commissioner.
By 1931 she had completed three dangerous treks into the wilderness of western Iran, in parts of which no Westerner had ever been before, and had located the long-fabled Valleys of the Assassins (hashish-eaters). During the 1930s she penetrated the hinterland of southern Arabia, where only a handful of Western explorers had previously ventured and then never as far or as widely as she went.
During World War II, she joined the British Ministry of Information and contributed to the creation of a propaganda network aimed at persuading Arabs to support the Allies or at least remain neutral. She wrote more than two dozen books based on her travels, almost all of which were published by John Murray in London, with whom she had a successful and long-standing working relationship.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 29, 2013
I'd never heard of Freyda Stark before I purchased this book of her photographs a few years ago. I'm afraid the book itself didn't explain much outside of labeling her as "a traveler" so I went to wiki for a quick rundown http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freya_Stark. She sounds interesting and deserves a closer read from me.
From the entry:
Dame Freya Madeline Stark (Mrs Stewart Perowne), DBE (born 31 January 1893 in Paris, France; died 9 May 1993 in Asolo, Italy) was a British explorer and travel writer. She wrote more than two dozen books on her travels in the Middle East and Afghanistan, as well as several autobiographic works and essays. She was one of the first non-Arabians to travel through the southern Arabian deserts.
This book is a collection of a hundred+ pictures (out of approximately 50,000 now on file at St. Anthony's College, Oxford) taken by Stark in her various visits to what is now Saudi Arabia. The last section of the book conains pictures taken in 1976 on her return trip to Yemen. Her pictures taken in the 1930s were confiscated and destroyed by the British government. (not much explanation in the book).
The pictures are fascinating and show a culture and life that no longer exists. I found it interesting that some of the women she photographed weren't veiiled.
My only criticism is (1) not enough pictures and (2) not enough biographical information--=but then this is a book of photos, not a bio. There is, however, a detailed bio timeline at the end. Stark really deserves a much more detailed study and her published photography expanded.
From the entry:
Dame Freya Madeline Stark (Mrs Stewart Perowne), DBE (born 31 January 1893 in Paris, France; died 9 May 1993 in Asolo, Italy) was a British explorer and travel writer. She wrote more than two dozen books on her travels in the Middle East and Afghanistan, as well as several autobiographic works and essays. She was one of the first non-Arabians to travel through the southern Arabian deserts.
This book is a collection of a hundred+ pictures (out of approximately 50,000 now on file at St. Anthony's College, Oxford) taken by Stark in her various visits to what is now Saudi Arabia. The last section of the book conains pictures taken in 1976 on her return trip to Yemen. Her pictures taken in the 1930s were confiscated and destroyed by the British government. (not much explanation in the book).
The pictures are fascinating and show a culture and life that no longer exists. I found it interesting that some of the women she photographed weren't veiiled.
My only criticism is (1) not enough pictures and (2) not enough biographical information--=but then this is a book of photos, not a bio. There is, however, a detailed bio timeline at the end. Stark really deserves a much more detailed study and her published photography expanded.
Want to Read
April 23, 2013Freya Stark was mentioned in To War with Whitaker
By Hermoine Ranfurly. They met during WW2.
By Hermoine Ranfurly. They met during WW2.
July 30, 2022
i want read this book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews