The Strange Career of the Chevalier D'Eon de Beaumont

by John Buchan Telfer

1885

The book examines the life of Chevalier d'Éon, a French diplomat, spy and soldier; whose first 49 years were spent as a man, and whose last 33 years were spent as a woman. From 1777, d'Éon claimed to be anatomically a woman, and dressed as such. Doctors who examined the body after d'Éon's death discovered that she was anatomically male. She is considered one of the earliest publicly transgender individuals recorded in history.