Baret

After quitting the anti-terrorist unit of the Interior Ministry in 1992, Petrov founds the Atlas security firm and two years later - insurance company Apolo and Balkan, which will give the birth later to Lev Ins. "His then partner Zlatomir Ivanov, aka the Baret, has been behind bars on suspicions of drugs smuggling since February 2009," Die Presse says.

Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency) 2010

As Ms. Ridley says, Baret lived to circle the globe, botanizing on the sides of the Strait of Magellan, traversing the Pacific, climbing on the slopes of an island volcano, and trekking through the rain forest of Madagascar, before finally finding her way back to France.

Incredible Voyage Gerard Helferich 2011

Baret left no account of her adventure, and Commerson kept a diary only fitfully.

Incredible Voyage Gerard Helferich 2011

But half a dozen years later, the plucky Baret made her way home, becoming the first woman in history to circumnavigate the Earth.

Incredible Voyage Gerard Helferich 2011

The competing versions of Baret's moment of exposure underscore the dilemma that Glynis Ridley faced as she composed "The Discovery of Jeanne Baret."

Incredible Voyage Gerard Helferich 2011

This improbable explanation served for a while, but somewhere in the Pacific — the location depends on whose journal you believe — Baret was finally exposed.

Incredible Voyage Gerard Helferich 2011

A widower 12 years her senior, Commerson took Baret to Paris, where they shared an apartment.

Incredible Voyage Gerard Helferich 2011

Whereas other writers have suggested that Baret was schooled in natural history by her accomplished lover-patron, Ms. Ridley argues that her heroine was already an expert plantswoman and that, "in this light, Baret was not Commerson's pupil, but his teacher."

Incredible Voyage Gerard Helferich 2011

"The Discovery of Jeanne Baret" includes its share of asides, on everything from foundling hospitals to celestial navigation.

Incredible Voyage Gerard Helferich 2011

With Commerson's ulcerous leg leaving him "not in a fit state to wander any distance, to scramble down gullies, or to climb outcrops," who else but Baret could have found the vine, spurred by the hope that it would cure her lover's limb?

Incredible Voyage Gerard Helferich 2011