John de Verdion

John de Verdion (born Theodora Grahn; 1744 – 15 July 1802) was a German-born bookseller, language instructor, and translator. Born the only child of an architect, he worked as an exchange broker during the Seven Years' War and began presenting himself as a man in his 20s in Bayreuth, where he worked as a secretary for the educational reformer Johann Bernhard Basedow. Suspicions about his sex led to his dismissal from Basedow's employ and after an incident where his clothes were torn off by a group of men, he moved to London in 1770.

In London, he styled himself Dr John de Verdion and was employed as a translator and instructor of languages, having knowledge of German, French, and Italian. He cut a recognisable figure in public, always wearing a bag wig and a cocked hat and carrying an umbrella in all weathers. He purchased antiquarian books from auction houses and resold them. As a frequent patron of Furnival's Inn, he was known for his large appetite for food and drink.

Among his language students were Edward Gibbon, William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland, and a Prussian ambassador. de Verdion was said to know Madame Schwellenberg and was admitted to the court of St James's Palace and the drawing room of Queen Charlotte, dressed in full costume, including an elegant sword.

Following a fall down the stairs, de Verdion died at his Hatton Garden home in July 1802.

Early life Theodora Grahn was born in the early 1740s 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". 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, 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.