Florence Baker

Florence, Lady Baker, or Florence Barbara Marie Finnian: or Florica Maria Sas; or Maria Freiin von Sas; (Hungarian: Sass Flóra) (6 August 1841 – 11 March 1916) was a Transylvanian-born ethnic Hungarian British explorer. Born in Transylvania (then part of the Lands of the Hungarian Crown), she became an orphan when her parents and brother were murdered by the Romanian marauders led by Ioan Axente Sever.

She fled with the remnants of the Hungarian army to the Ottoman Empire, settling in Vidin. There, she was sold as a slave in 1859. Years later, Samuel Baker encountered her during a visit to the Vidin white slave auction. Florence, a white slave girl destined for the Ottoman Pasha of Vidin, caught Baker’s eye. Although outbid by the Pasha, Baker bribed her guards, and the two escaped together. Florence became Baker’s companion and later his wife. They reportedly married, likely in Bucharest, before holding a formal family wedding in England in 1865.

Together, they explored Africa in search of the source of the Nile and discovered Lake Albert. Florence later joined Baker in his efforts to combat the slave trade in Africa. The couple eventually retired to Devon, where they lived until their deaths.