Foster, Michael, 1937-

Alexandra David-Neel, a French writer and explorer, was the first woman to enter the forbidden city of Lhasa, Tibet in 1924.

Alexandra David-Neel was born in Paris in 1868. A restless child, she often ran away from her strict and monotonous life at home to search for adventure. By the time she met her future husband Philippe Néel in 1904, David-Neel had traveled throughout much of Europe, North Africa, and Asia as an opera singer and writer. After a few years of marriage, Philippe allowed his unhappy wife to travel to India for a while; however, the intended short trip lasted 15 years. During her explorations, David-Neel adopted a son named Lama Yongden who became her traveling companion. In 1924, they secretly entered Lhasa, Tibet, making David-Neel the first woman to ever enter the forbidden city. After two years undercover, David-Neel and her son left Lhasa and eventually returned to Europe. David-Neel continued to explore and write until her death in Digne in 1969.

During the 1980s, Michael and Barbara Foster had researched Alexandra David-Neel in order to produce a biography of her life. Michael was the Executive Vice President of Karma Unlimited Inc., a company dedicated to the study of Eastern culture. His wife, Barbara, was an Assistant Professor at Hunter College, CUNY. Together, the couple completed the biography of David-Neel, published by Harper and Row in 1987 as Forbidden Journey: The Life of Alexandra David-Neel . The book includes a forward by the novelist Lawrence Durrell who had known David-Neel. Although unable to produce a film about her remarkable explorations, Michael and Barbara Foster continued to research her life and published a second biography of David-Neel in 2002.