Hoenstadt, Gabrielle von, Countess, 1880-1959

Gabrielle Vassal was a British-born naturalist. She married Joseph Marguerite Jean-Baptiste Vassal, a physician in the French Colonial Service, in 1903. The couple moved to Vietnam in 1904 and later went to French colonies in Africa.

Vassal was a keen naturalist and supplied numerous specimens from Vietnam, Gabon, and Congo to the Natural History Museum in London for a period of 30 years. After the outbreak of World War II, the Vassals returned to France and Gabrielle joined the French Resistance. She helped downed airmen escape and earned recognition by governments in both Britain and the United States.