Beryl Markham
1902–1986 · British-Kenyan (England/Kenya) · Interwar Period
Known for: First person to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic east to west—against the prevailing winds—also a horse trainer and author of the masterpiece West with the Night
Markham grew up in Kenya, was raised partly by the Nandi people, and became Africa's first female racehorse trainer and bush pilot. She flew solo across the Atlantic in 1936—against headwinds, a harder feat than Lindbergh's crossing—crash-landing in Nova Scotia.
Her memoir West with the Night was praised by Hemingway, who called it 'a bloody wonderful book.' She was beautiful, fearless, and unconventional—multiple marriages and affairs. She lived in Kenya most of her life and died in relative poverty.
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