Queer Places:
Cimetière de Terre-Cabade, 1 Avenue du Cimetière, 31500 Toulouse, France
Jeanne Paule Henriette Rachel “Jane” Magre Dieulafoy (June 29, 1851 - May 25, 1916) was a French archaeologist, novelist, photojournalist, and travel writer. Beyond her
major archaeological contributions—most notably excavating the ancient Persian city of Susa—she remains a fascinating figure in queer and gender history due to her lifelong
adoption of male attire, defiance of 19th-century gender roles, and official legal battle to cross-dress.
Born into a wealthy family in Toulouse, France, Jeanne married civil engineer Marcel-Auguste Dieulafoy in 1870. Shortly after their wedding, the Franco-Prussian War broke out. Unwilling to remain behind, Jeanne dressed in a soldier’s uniform, cut her hair, and accompanied Marcel to the front lines, fighting alongside him in the Armée de la Loire. This set a pattern for their lifelong partnership and her lifelong habit of sartorial non-conformity.
Beginning in 1881, the couple undertook extensive archaeological expeditions across Persia (modern-day Iran), traveling thousands of miles on horseback under harsh conditions.
Their work at Susa uncovered iconic Persian monuments, including the Frieze of Lions and the Apadana Brick Frieze, which now reside in the Louvre Museum.
Jeanne served as the expedition's primary photographer and chronicler, publishing detailed travelogues that earned her widespread literary acclaim and the French Legion of Honor.
While Dieulafoy remained in a conventional, loving marriage with her husband until her death, her life is heavily analyzed within LGBTQ+ history, transgender history, and queer studies.
In 19th-century France, a 1800 police ordinance made it illegal for women to wear trousers or male clothing in public without express permission. Upon returning from Persia, Dieulafoy formally applied for and received an official legal waiver—a permis de travestissement—from the Paris Prefecture of Police. She was one of only a handful of women (alongside painter Rosa Bonheur) granted this legal exemption.
Unlike individuals who cross-dressed solely for practical travel or safety during foreign expeditions, Dieulafoy wore tailored suits, ties, top hats, and short-cropped hair for the rest of her life in France. She attended high-society events, literary salons, and academic lectures exclusively in men's clothing.
In her writings, Dieulafoy often minimized the significance of her clothes, framing them pragmatically ("I only do this to save time"). However, her persistent refusal to revert to women's attire in Paris demonstrated a deeper personal alignment with male sartorial identity.
Dieulafoy wrote several novels, including Vulturna (1889) and Fratricide (1890), which explored themes of gender fluidity, cross-dressing, and non-traditional identity roles.
Modern scholars view Dieulafoy as a pioneer of gender variance and butch/transmasculine expression during the Victorian era, occupying a space where binary categories of 19th-century gender were openly challenged.
When questioned by contemporaries about her appearance, she famously noted that wearing pants allowed her to move and work as an equal, stating she had "forgotten how to wear skirts."
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