Freya Stark died (9-5-1993)

Aged 100.
Grew up in Italy. English father, multiethnic mother.
Child of unhappy marriage, suffered a disfiguring injury age 13.
BUT
She received a copy of One Thousand and One Nights for her ninth birthday. Could already read French, taught herself Latin. Eventually went to London (Bedford College, SOAS) to study languages. "Her professor suggested Icelandic, but she chose to study Arabic and later, Persian."
Became celebrated for her writings (and photographs) from her travels in the Middle East, often to areas little known to the British public.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freya_Stark