Ella Maillart Author

Ella Maillart was born in Switzerland in 1904. An Olympic athlete, actress, movie stuntwoman, and captain of the Swiss Ladies Hockey Team, Maillart also found time to travel widely in Asia. In 1939 she and her companion Annemaie Schwarzenbach drove from Switzerland to Afghanistan, a trip described in Maillart's book The Cruel Way (Beacon, 1987). Her other books include Turkestan Solo (Long Riders Guild, 2001). She died in 1997.