Evangeline French

Evangeline Frances "Eva" French (Chinese: 馮貴珠; pinyin: Féng Guìzhū) (1869-8 July 1960) was a British Protestant Christian missionary in China.

At her mission station of Huozhou 霍州, Shanxi, she formed a lifelong partnership with Alice Mildred Cable who had recently arrived.

"[4] After 20 years in Huozhou, they believed that the mission should be turned over to Chinese leaders and the three applied to work in relatively unknown, largely Muslim western China.

... Five times we traversed the whole length of the desert, and in the process we had become part of its life" [6] In June 1923, all three set out for Central Asia from Huozhou.

[8] The interpersonal relations among the "trio" were that "Mildred was the 'father figure,' Francesca the mother, and Eva the strong-willed, puckish and wonderful child.

After their return, they took a year-long journey into Xinjiang (then known as Chinese Turkestan), on the way being detained by a Dongan leader, Ma Zhongying, to tend his wounds.

The trio left China for the last time in 1936 and were unable to return because, in August 1938, all foreigners were ordered to leave Gansu and Xinjiang by the local warlords.

Eva took primary responsibility for caring for a deaf and dumb Chinese orphan, called "Topsy", the trio had adopted.