Alexandrine Tinné

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Alexandrine Tinné (1835–1869)

Alexandrine Pieternella (Petronella) Françoise Tinné (born October 17, 1835 in The Hague , † August 1, 1869 in the Libyan Sahara ) was a Dutch adventurer , Africa explorer and photographer .

Childhood and youth

Alexandrine was the daughter of Philip Frederik Tinné (1772-1844), a Dutch merchant who lived in England during the Napoleonic Wars and later returned to his home country, and the Baroness Harriet van Steengracht-Capellen (1796-1863). Harriet, the daughter of a well-known Dutch vice admiral, was Philip's second wife. Alexandrine was born when he was 63 years old.

Young Alexandrine was home schooled and showed a gift for piano playing. She was also an excellent photographer in the early years of plate glass photography . She was ten years old when her wealthy father died and was considered one of the richest heiresses in the Netherlands.

to travel

Journey to the upper reaches of the Nile

Alexandrine Tinné, 1869

Alexandrine's mother already led an unsteady life and traveled with her little daughter for several months every year. Alexandrine dreamed of discovering the sources of the Nile . She learned Arabic and, in spite of all warnings, set out for Cairo via Syria and Palestine in 1861 , where she completely relocated and from where she made her way south in January 1862. She was accompanied by her mother, her aunt and some scientists. The expedition , equipped with all European luxury, was to meet John Hanning Speke up the Nile and then set off together to the sources of the Nile. When Speke did not arrive at the agreed meeting point, Tinné set off alone with her people. By land, she reached the then hardly explored regions in what is now the Republic of the Congo and in the northwest of what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo . She arrived in Gondokoro on September 30th . However, the expedition lacked porters and food and after several attacks of malaria , Alexandrine Tinné broke off the trip and soon set out on the way back to Cairo. On this trip, as in Cairo, she met slave caravans directly for the first time, documented this, did not shy away from messing with the slave traders and bought many people free, whom she offered to join her entourage.

As soon as she returned, she began planning the exploration of the Gazelle River. Accompanied by the German researcher Baron Theodor von Heuglin , the botanist and doctor Hermann Steudner , 65 bodyguards and 40 mules, loaded with gifts for the locals (glass beads, toys and clothing), she set off on February 2, 1863. Together with her mother and aunt, she observed nature and wrote down her observations. Plants were collected and drawn and placed in herbaria . On this trip, too, she bought people free from slavery. When her mother and Steudner died of a sudden fever, Alexandrine also broke off this research trip and returned to Khartoum on March 29, 1864 .

The Sahara expedition

After that, Alexandrine Tinné traveled the Mediterranean by ship, but for a long time could not bring herself to a new expedition. She blamed herself for her mother's death. In 1867 she moved from Cairo to Algiers .

It was not until 1869 that she put together a new expedition to be the first European to cross the Sahara. From Tripoli , she and her entourage penetrated deep into the Libyan Sahara. In Murzuk she met the German doctor and explorer Gustav Nachtigal . This persuaded Alexandrine to send back to Tripoli the Saxon high school student Gottlob Adolf Krause (1850-1938) who had run away from home and who was later a respected expert in West African linguistic research who had joined the expedition. The Tuareg assured her support and escort for the further journey. On the way she bought women from slave traders who were destined for harems . When a dispute broke out among her drivers near Murzuk, she tried to mediate and was fatally injured by a Targi . Only after a few days was she found by soldiers summoned and buried in the desert. The motives of the murderers were hatred of Christians and greed, because the Tuareg suspected gold in the large water cans. So much for the description generally found in the literature.

The Africa researcher Erwin von Bary and Gottlob Adolf Krause, who was sent back from Murzuk, later made more detailed investigations. The two travelers discovered that the researcher and her European companions had fallen victim to a political intrigue: Tinné traveled under the protection of the old leader of the northern Tuareg ( Kel Ajjer ), Ikhenukhen, whose reputation was badly damaged. Younger tribal leaders tried to oust him by portraying him on the one hand as a puppet of the Europeans and on the other hand defaming him as an aged weakling. In order to prove that he was no longer even able to safely escort his wards through the Ajjer country, they planned the attack on the Dutch expedition, which they later tried to justify by stating that Tinné and her companions were Christian Issuing spies. However, the murderers did not achieve their political goal, because the murder of a woman who was traveling under the protection of the tribal community was an unforgivable offense against the Tuareg's code of honor.

Movie

literature

  • Literature by and about Alexandrine Tinné in the catalog of the German National Library
  • Friedrich Ratzel :  Tinne, Alexandrine . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 38, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1894, p. 359 f.
  • Clara Eggink: The odd irritants from Henriëtte and Alexandrine Tinne. The Hague 1960 (2nd edition 1976).
  • Penelope Gladstone: Travels of Alexine. London 1970.
  • Martin Theodor von Heuglin: The Tinne'sche Expedition in the western Nile headwaters 1863 and 1864, Perthes, Gotha, 1865.
  • Jan G. Kikkert: Hoe ver we zullen komen, weet ik niet: Het avontuurlijke leven van Alexandrine Tinne (1835–1869). Bussem 1980.
  • Jan G. Kikkert: Een Haagse dame in de Sahara; het avontuurlijke leven van Alexandrine Tinne (1835–1869). Amsterdam 2005 (extended edition of the previous book).
  • Antje Köhlerschmidt: Alexandrine Tinne (1835–1869) - 19th century traveler to Africa. On the history of travel. Magdeburg 1994 (phil. Diss.)
  • Peter Kremer: Exploring the Sahara. in (Heinrich Barth Society), Tuareg - Lords of the Sahara. Düsseldorf 1988.
  • Christel Mouchard: Alexandrine Senses . In: dies .: It urged you to see the world. Constant travelers of the 19th century. Hannover 1990 (first ud T. Aventurières en crinoline. Paris 1987), pp. 151-219.
  • Willem Sutherland: Alexandrine Tinne . Van Soest, Amsterdam 1935.
  • Wilfried Westphal: daughter of the sultan. The journeys of Alexandrine Tinne . Jan Thorbecke Verlag, Stuttgart 2002. ISBN 3-7995-0105-3
  • Robert Joost Willink: The Fateful Journey. The Expedition of Alexine Tinne and Theodor von Heuglin in Sudan (1863–1864). A Study of Their Travel Accounts and Ethnographic Collections . Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2011. ISBN 978-90-8964-352-0
  • Theodor von Heuglin : The Tinne'sche Expedition in the western Nile headwaters 1863 and 1864 digitized .

Web links

Commons : Alexandrine Tinne  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Alexandrine Tinné  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Traces in the Sahara , documentary by Dietrich Schubert, 2005.
  2. ↑ Kremer: Erforschung , p. 38.
    Köhlerschmidt also comes to a similar conclusion: Alexandrine Tinne , p. 50 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Tinné, Alexandrine
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tinné, Alexandrine Pieternella Françoise
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch explorer and Africa explorer
DATE OF BIRTH October 17, 1835
PLACE OF BIRTH The hague
DATE OF DEATH August 1, 1869
Place of death Libyan Sahara