Editing Isabelle Eberhardt (section)

{{for|the 1991 film|Isabelle Eberhardt (film)}}
{{short description|Swiss explorer and writer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Isabelle Eberhardt
| image              = Isabelle Eberhardt.jpg
| alt                = Androgynous photograph of Eberhardt as a teenager in a short haircut and a sailor's uniform
| caption            = Eberhardt in 1895 photographed<br>by Louis David
| birth_name         = Isabelle Wilhelmine Marie Eberhardt
| birth_date         = 17 February 1877
| birth_place        = [[Geneva]], Switzerland
| death_date         = {{death date and age|1904|10|21|1877|2|17|df=yes}}
| death_place        = [[Aïn Séfra]], [[French Algeria]]
| burial_place       = Muslim cemetery of Sidi Boudjemâa, west of Aïn Séfra, Algeria
| nationality        = Swiss
| other_names        = Si Mahmoud Saadi, Nicolas Podolinsky
| spouse             = {{marriage |Slimane Ehnni |1901 }}
| known_for          = 
| occupation         = Explorer, writer
}}

'''Isabelle Wilhelmine Marie Eberhardt''' (17 February 1877 – 21 October 1904) was a [[Swiss people|Swiss]] explorer and author. As a teenager, Eberhardt, educated in [[Switzerland]] by her father, published short stories under a male [[pseudonym]]. She became interested in [[North Africa]], and was considered a proficient writer on the subject despite learning about the region only through correspondence. After an invitation from photographer Louis David, Eberhardt moved to [[French Algeria|Algeria]] in May 1897. She dressed as a man and converted to [[Islam]], eventually adopting the name '''Si Mahmoud Saadi'''. Eberhardt's unorthodox behaviour made her an [[Outcast (person)|outcast]] among European settlers in Algeria and the [[French Algeria#Government and administration|French administration]].

Eberhardt's acceptance by the [[Qadiriyya]], an Islamic order, convinced the French administration that she was a spy or an agitator. She survived an assassination attempt shortly thereafter. In 1901, the French administration ordered her to leave Algeria, but she was allowed to return the following year after marrying her partner, the Algerian soldier Slimane Ehnni. Following her return, Eberhardt wrote for a newspaper published by Victor Barrucand and worked for General [[Hubert Lyautey]]. In 1904, at the age of 27, she was killed by a [[flash flood]] in [[Aïn Séfra]].

In 1906, Barrucand began publishing her remaining manuscripts, which received critical acclaim. She was seen posthumously as an advocate of [[decolonisation]], and streets were named after her in [[Béchar]] and [[Algiers]]. Eberhardt's life has been the subject of several works, including the 1991 film ''[[Isabelle Eberhardt (film)|Isabelle Eberhardt]]'' and the 2012 opera ''[[Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt]]''.