Justine Tibesar’s Extraordinary Life

Early Life

• May 15, 1909: Marie Justine Tibesar born in Ell, Luxembourg, to Jean Tibesar and Anne Marguerite Clemens.
• 1912-1920: Received education primarily in German, learning to write in Gothic script.
• c. 1925: At age 16, displayed her adventurous spirit by disappearing from home, later found in Esch, Luxembourg.
• February 1926: The Tibesar family relocates from Ell to Lopigneux, a hamlet in the French commune of Arrancy-sur-Crusnes.

First Adventures

• c. 1926-1927: Left home with 150 francs borrowed from her brother, traveled to Dunkerque, France.
• c. 1927-1929: Earned money selling oranges from a handcart before joining a traveling theater troupe bound for America.
• October 7, 1929: Obtained a passport in London for travel to Vietnam.(1)
• November 1, 1929: Joined the Work Around the World Educational Club (WAWEC) in Belgium and embarked from Le Havre aboard the S.S. Ile de France with the Wanderwells.
• November 7, 1929: Arrived in New York with the Work Around the World Educational Club (WAWEC).

The WAWEC Period

• January 26, 1930: Joined the WAWEC base camp in Miami, Florida.
• March 19, 1930: Departed Miami with Unit 27, including Emil Hinterhauser, Marjorie Kuinegal, and Rudolph Fuller.
• April 2, 1930: Documented in Tampa newspaper alongside Olga Van Driesk, traveling with “an old car, bearing the scars of travel through 47 countries.”
• April 11, 1930: Appeared in Orlando with a modified team that included Olga Van Driesk, P. Lauterlein of Denmark, and H.F.C. Welfare of Germany, as reported in the Orlando Sentinel.
• May 24, 1930: Reached San Antonio, Texas from Houston with Captain Emil Hinterhauser, Marjorie Kuinegal, and Rudolph Fuller. The team traveled in a car with a built-in darkroom for developing photographs.
• June 19, 1930: Arrived in El Paso, Texas with just Emil Hinterhauser. The newspaper reported that Marjorie Kuinegal had married Rudolph Fuller along the way, and both had left the expedition.
• Late June 1930: Planned departure with Hinterhauser for San Francisco, with intentions to sail to Japan.
• Late 1930: Continued to San Francisco, before sailing to Japan and China, and eventually reaching Saigon, Vietnam in February 1931.

The Epic Motorcycle Journey

• March 10, 1931: Purchased an FN M70 350cc Touring Standard motorcycle in Saigon from Mr. Martiny.
• March 13, 1931: Obtained her motorcycle license after three days of learning to ride.
• March 16, 1931: Departed Saigon, beginning her 22,000-kilometer journey to Europe.
• Late March 1931: Suffered a serious fall near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, requiring a 10-14 day recovery period. She later explained: “I had my luggage behind my saddle, and on the rutted paths it was not easy to keep my balance.”
• April 1931: Visited the Angkor temple ruins in Cambodia after recovery.
• Mid-April 1931: Traveled from Cambodia to Bangkok, Thailand, by motorcycle, navigating harsh wilderness. Her motorcycle repeatedly got stuck in river courses and crashed on the difficult roads.
• Late April 1931: Attempted to cross through Burma by motorcycle.
• April 29, 1931: Documented in Rangoon, Burma, by a local newspaper.
• Early May 1931: Unable to cross Burma’s mountains, arranged sea transport from Rangoon (or returned to Bangkok) to Singapore, then to Calcutta, India.
• May 5, 1931: Arrived in Calcutta, India.
• May-June 1931: Made a detour to the Himalayas to visit the Citroën Yellow Cruise mission, taking a brief break in Singapore to wait for the expedition.
• June 15, 1931: Reached Srinagar, Kashmir.
• June 26, 1931: Departed Srinagar after completing her Himalayan detour.
• July 10, 1931: Arrived in Varanasi, India, en route to Baluchistan.
• July 1931: Crossed Kashmir and entered Baluchistan (modern-day Pakistan), purchasing a sidecar (or using abandoned bicycles) to carry water and fuel reserves. Desert runways sometimes hundred meters wide criss-crossed in all directions, and once she got lost and had to return to her starting point.
• Late July 1931: Reached Quetta, Baluchistan, recently devastated by an earthquake.
• Late July to Mid-August 1931: Fell ill with fever and sunstroke in Douzhab, Persia (Iran), requiring a three-week recovery under a local healer’s care, amid local fears of a cholera outbreak. She later recalled: “In DOUZHAB I got a fever and sunstroke. 10 days on a cot, a native doctor, thank God I had taken quinine with me – I cured myself.”
• Mid-August to Early September 1931: Completed three grueling 1,000-kilometer desert crossings: Douzhab to Meched (Mashhad), Meched to Tehran, and Tehran to Kermanshah, battling extreme heat and language barriers.
• Early September 1931: Arrived in Baghdad, Iraq, altering her route northward through Mosul and Aleppo due to a cholera outbreak.
• September 20, 1931: Reached Constantinople (Istanbul), marking her return to European soil.
• September to October 1931: Traveled through Central Europe via Edirne, Plovdiv, Sofia, Belgrade, Zagreb, Trieste, Venice, Milan, Turin, and Lyon, heading toward Belgium.
• October 20, 1931: Arrived in Liège, Belgium, where she visited the Fabrique Nationale (FN) factory in Herstal. She was greeted by a delegation led by M. DEBRUGE, presented with flowers, and welcomed on behalf of the FN factory. She visited the factory the next day where she was impressed by the enormous factory halls, served breakfast in her honor, and greeted by M. JOASSART, the general manager.
• Late October to Early November 1931: Visited Brussels and Paris, possibly for media engagements or celebratory events following her FN factory visit.
• November 1931: Stayed in Verdun, France, with family members involved in distribution, near Longwy, reflecting on her journey.
• November 1931: Visited Arlon, Belgium, to see her parents, who lived near Longwy, remaining in the region (Verdun/Longwy/Arlon) through late 1931.
• January 22, 1932: Returned to Arlon for a possible formal celebration or FN-related event, though her journey officially concluded in Liège on October 20, 1931.

Later Life

• After 1932: Married Georges Dussaut from Aix-en-Provence, France.(1)
• Post-journey years: With her husband, operated a brewery in Aix-en-Provence and adopted a daughter named Jacqueline.(1)

Media Coverage

• April 2, 1930: Featured in Tampa, Florida newspaper in an article titled “Girl Travelers Visit Tampa With Old Car Holding Touring Record,” documenting her travels with Olga Van Driesk.
• April 11, 1930: Appeared in The Orlando Sentinel in an article titled “Globe Trotters Arrive in City,” which detailed the visit of the WAWEC team to Orlando.
• May 24, 1930: Mentioned in the San Antonio Express in “World Circling Group Arrive in San Antonio,” describing the team’s arrival from Houston.
• June 19, 1930: Featured in the El Paso Evening Post in an article titled “World Tour Club Dwindles to Two,” noting how the team had reduced to just Justine and Emil Hinterhauser.
• April 30, 1931: Featured in Les Annales Coloniales (The Colonial Annals) after arriving in Rangoon, Burma the day before.
• October-November 1931: Featured in FN Sports magazine article by Paul Destoc.(2)
• November 15, 1931: Coverage in L’Est Republicain newspaper.
• November 20, 1931: Featured in Moravsky Illustrovany Zpavodaj magazine.
• November 27, 1931: Coverage in Saigon Sportif publication.
• October 16, no year specified: Featured in L’Auto magazine, which praised both her achievement and the reliability of the FN motorcycle.(2)

References:

(1) “La fabuleuse histoire de Justine TIBESAR.pdf” – Le fabuleux raid de 22.000 km, en 1931, de Marie Justine TIBESAR, à moto du Vietnam à Arlon by Jean-Marie Zimmerman

(2) “Artikel Justine Tibesar englisch.pdf” – Report from the magazine “FN Sports” / October – November 1931 by Paul Destoc