ICON | Beryl Markham

Photos of Mrs. Beryl Markham clockwise from top left: in 1936 by Bettman, via Little Brown Book Group, in Brooklyn being revered as the first person to fly the Atlantic solo from East to West, 1936. Image below via New York Public Library.

Markham was a British-born Kenyan aviatrix, adventurer, and racehorse trainer. In 1936, still the pioneer days of aviation, she became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west. She apprenticed as a trainer and breeder of racehorses, and in the 1930s became an African bush pilot as well. If this sounds familiar, it might be because Markham is the real-life inspiration for the character Felicity, the outspoken horse-riding tomboy in Karen Blixen's memoir (and adapted film) Out of Africa. Markham later authored an acclaimed novel West With The Night of which Ernest Hemingway said, "She has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer." And just one final note: she wore ascots.


Thanks to Kaylee Corcoran for the rec!