Born 1728,
Riobamba, Ecuador
Died September 28, 1792,
Saint-Amand, France

Isabel Godin des Odonais triumphed over the death of most of her loved ones and survived starvation, betrayal, and, finally, the jungle. She was eventually reunited with her husband after a harrowing journey and a long separation; the couple settled in France and enjoyed their final years together.

Marries Jean Godin

Jean Godin des Odonais was employed as a chain-bearer, or carrier of a chain used for calculating scientific measurements, in an expedition to Ecuador led by the French explorer Charles Marie de La Condamine. While La Condamine’s party was staying in the Andes, Godin met Isabela de Grandmaison y Bruna, the daughter of a local dignitary who was of French origin. When they married in 1735, Jean was 30 years old and Isabel (the French form of her name) was 13.

When La Condamine left...