Gertrude Bell died
Happened: 1926-07-12
Description
When Bell briefly returned to Britain in 1925, she faced family problems and ill health. Her family's fortune had begun to decline due to the onset of post-World War I strikes by workers in Britain and economic depression in Europe. She returned to Baghdad and soon developed pleurisy. When she recovered, she heard that her younger half brother Hugh had died of typhoid.
On 12 July 1926, Bell was discovered dead, of an apparent overdose of sleeping pills. There is much debate on her death, but it is unknown whether the overdose was an intentional suicide or accidental since she had asked her maid to wake her.
She was buried at the British cemetery in Baghdad's Bab al-Sharji district. Her funeral was a major event, attended by large numbers of people including her colleagues, British officials and the King of Iraq. It was said King Faisal watched the procession from his private balcony as they carried her coffin to the cemetery.
Participants
| Name | Date of Birth | Date of Death | Short Biography |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gertrude Bell | 1868 | 1926 | an English writer, traveller, political officer, administrator, and archaeologist who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British imperial policy-making |
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