Isabelle Eberhardt, ‘Infernalia: Sepulchral Pleasure’ (1895): A New Translation

Abstract

Swiss writer Isabelle Wilhelmine Marie Eberhardt (1877-1904) was born out of wedlock: the daughter of German-Russian Nathalie de Moerder (née Eberhardt), who was married at the time, and her children’s tutor, Alexander Trophimowsky, an Armenian anarchist and nihilist who converted to Islam. As a child, Isabelle Eberhardt received an extensive education and learned several languages. Raised on an equal footing with her brothers, she learned how to ride horses, and shoot firearms, and she took part in all the chores around the house; she wore boys’ clothes and kept her hair short. Always encouraged to question and transgress gender roles, Eberhardt grew to reject the submissive role women had been assigned by society and strove to escape the confines of her sex.