Louise Seguin was the first European woman to travel to the

Antarctic The Antarctic ( or , American English also or ; commonly ) is a polar region around Earth's South Pole, opposite the Arctic region around the North Pole. The Antarctic comprises the continent of Antarctica, the Kerguelen Plateau and other ...

region, disguised as a boy or a courtesan on the 1772–1773 voyage of Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen. She explored the

Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the sub-Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, a large ...

with the crew of the ''Roland'', and her presence was used to discredit Kerguelen.

References

French explorers 18th-century French people Female-to-male cross-dressers {{France-bio-stub