John de Verdion

Theodora Grahn was born in the early 1740s in either Leipzig or Berlin, the only child of architect Johann Friedrich Grael and Loysa Sophia (née Kiesewetter). After the deaths of his parents, he moved to Berlin to live with his aunt. He learned mathematics, French, English and Italian. Following her death, he started working as an exchange broker, a profitable profession during the Seven Years' War. He made daily outings to counting houses in various parts of the city and wore boots during the dirtier weather. By the conclusion of the war in 1763, he had doubled his money. Work for Johann Bernhard Basedow Around 1763, he moved to Bayreuth and by 1768 was living as a man, dressed as a huntsman and styling himself the Baron John de Verdion. In 1769 he worked for German educational reformer Johann Bernhard Basedow as an amanuensis and secretary. It was suspected that de Verdion was not a man and rumours circulated about the nature of the relationship between the pair. Baselow himself was not convinced that de Verdion was a woman, but an ensuing scandal obliged him to dismiss de Verdion from his employ. In 1770, some young men from the counting house of a merchant concocted a plan to determine de Verdion's sex. They invited him to an inn and plied him with drinks. Once he was drunk, they assaulted him, tore off his clothes, and "verified her sex beyond all possibility of doubt". ==Life in London==

In 1770, he moved to London where he referred to himself as Dr John de Verdion. He translated, taught languages, and traded in books. A trade card of his, preserved in the British Library, lists his name as Mr de Verdion. de Verdion dealt in odd volumes and antiquary books. He would often purchase books at the auction house, sometimes by the coach load, and later resell the volumes to local bookstores. His advice was sought by book purchasers and he gained a reputation for having a good knowledge of English literature. He also taught English to the Prussian ambassador and German to William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland. de Verdion also made the acquaintance of Madame Schwellenberg, a bedchamber woman of the British queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Schwellenberg was said to be his patron, and due possibly to his knowing her, he was admitted to the court of St James's Palace and attended the queen's drawing room in full court costume, along with an elegant sword. ==Death and will==

In 1802, de Verdion was hurt in a fall down the stairs and injured his breast. Eventually, he was tended to by his German neighbour who was a physician but his condition worsened and he acquired dropsy. He died of a "cancer in the breast" on 15 July 1802, at his home on Upper Charles-street, Hatton Garden. He was interred at St Andrew Holborn, in Gray's-inn-lane. His coffin plate was engraved "John de Verdion" before being changed to "Miss de Verdion". In his will, which he drew up on 8 June 1802, he referred to himself as "John de Verdion otherwise Theodoria de Verdion, Master of Languages of Upper Charles Street Hatton Garden". Terrified at the thought of being buried alive, he included instructions that his body be left to rest for eight days before being buried. The sole beneficiary of the will was Mr Denner, the owner of the coffee house at Furnival's Inn, who he owed £40. The gold and silver coins that de Verdion was supposed to possess and his sword were not found among his belongings. The sum of de Verdion's possessions was his wardrobe and was insufficient to cover his debt. ==Biographical accounts==

Following his death, de Verdion was written up as a curiosity and accounts of his life appeared in books about unusual people and events. These accounts invariably referred to de Verdion as a woman disguised as a man. Among the first biographical treatments published following his death was in the 1804 book ''Kirby's Wonderful and Scientific Museum. Later works, such as the 1852 book The Lives and Portraits of Curious and Odd Characters'', said that he was known as Chevalier John Theodora de Verdion. More recent accounts of de Verdion's life in the gender studies field have sometimes labelled him a transsexual. It is unknown whether he identified as a man or whether his life as a man was adopted as a strategy for a world that provided women with few opportunities. ==See also==