Ida Treat Bergeret was born on March 4, 1889, in Joliet, Illinois, United States.[3] She graduated from Western Reserve University in 1911.[2] She later moved to Paris to earn a doctorate degree in letters from the University of Paris.[3] After graduating in 1913, she returned to Western Reserve University, where she began her professional career in teaching romance languages from 1913 to 1920.[5][2]
In 1920, she returned to France, where she had 20 years-long career in writing and journalism.[6][2] She took paleontology courses at the Institute of Human Paleontology and the Museum of Natural History in 1923. Between 1926 and 1930, she earned a second doctorate in paleontology at the Paleontology Research Center in Paris.[2] During the 1930s, while working as a correspondent for Paris Vu, she traveled throughout Europe, China, and the South Pacific.[5][3][6][2]
She also worked as a member of the French Mission of Information in London from 1943 to 1946.[3]
In 1948, Bergeret joined the Vassar College as a professor of English.[5][2]
