Annie Londonderry

Annie Londonderry

Annie Londonderry , actually Anna Kopchovsky (* 1870 or 1871 in Latvia , † November 11, 1947 in New York ) was the first woman to ride a bicycle around the world.

Life

Anna Kopchovsky came to the United States from Latvia with her parents and siblings when she was four or five. She married in 1888 and had three children within four years. On June 27, 1894, she left her family (temporarily) to cycle around the world. She first drove from Boston to Chicago . It took her four months for this route, which was partly due to the wrong clothing (long skirt, closed blouse) and partly to the wrong bike (too heavy). So she did not succeed in crossing the mountains to the west before the onset of winter. So she decided to go back in the opposite direction to New York in suitable clothing (harem pants, man's jacket) and on a lighter bike.

The alleged reason for their trip was a bet between two Boston businessmen who allegedly claimed that a woman would not make it. However, this bet is as little guaranteed as the conditions under which you should leave without money, but bring back $ 5,000. To earn this money, Anna Kopchovsky advertised, among other things for a mineral water called Londonderry, which is why she took the name Annie Londonderry for the trip .

In New York, Annie Londonderry boarded a ship to France, cycled from Le Havre to Marseille and boarded another ship. She arrived in San Francisco on March 23, 1895 . Which cities and countries she has visited in the meantime and which routes she rode by bike cannot be exactly verified. Stations like Singapore and Saigon are safe , but a detour to the battlefields of the Sino-Japanese War is unlikely - like many other stories she told on the way or after her return.

On September 24, 1895, Annie Londonderry was back in Chicago (which had been set as the new destination). According to her own statements, that was how she won her bet. Another report she had written appeared in a New York newspaper. After that, she and her feat were forgotten.

Movie

In 2013, filmmaker Gillian Williams created a 27-minute documentary about Annie Londonderry: The New Woman: Annie "Londonderry" Kopchovsky . In the same year, the film received the Cine Golden Eagle Award in the category "Independent Division - Documentary Short" from the US Council on International Nontheatrical Events (Cine) .

literature

• Peter Zheutlin: Around the World on Two Wheels. Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride . New York 2007 (German translation is in preparation) ISBN 978-3-931965-07-5

Web links

Commons : Annie Londonderry  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Website to Annie Londonderry (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Announcing the DCIFF 2013 selection of Feature Films and Documentaries on dciff-indie.org v. January 2, 2013
2. ↑ Spring 2013 Cine Golden Eagle Award Recipients on cine.org ( Memento of the original from September 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.