Jane Dieulafoy, a 19th-century French archaeologist, broke the law by wearing pants.

Let me guess, this is one of those many articles that try to establish the contributions of women to science, literature etc. Like many other people, I do not remember that I have ever heard or read about Jane Dieulafoy.

Like famous men had often very supportive wives or female companions without them their lives and accomplishments would have been very different, the same can be assumed for famous women.

What seems to be clear though is that her longtime husband fully supported his wife's endeavors and her expression of masculinity/cross-dressing/tomboy. Her archaeological exploits were accomplished with her husband together. One may speculate that without her very supporting husband, her life would have been very different.

This lady certainly had an unusual life (excerpts are from Wikipedia) plus my comments (in blue):

1. "That same year [1870], the Franco-Prussian War began. Marcel [her husband] volunteered, and was sent to the front. Jane accompanied him, wearing a soldier's uniform and fighting by his side."
2. "With the end of the war, Marcel was employed by the Midi railways, but during the next ten years the Dieulafoys would travel in Egypt and Morocco for archaeological and exploration work. Jane did not keep a record of these journeys. Marcel became increasingly interested in the relationship between Oriental and Western architecture, and in 1879 decided to devote himself to archaeology."
3. "During her travels abroad, Jane Dieulafoy preferred to dress in men's clothing and wear her hair short, because it was otherwise difficult for a woman to travel freely in a Muslim country. She had also dressed as a man when she fought alongside Marcel Dieulafoy during the Franco-Prussian war and she kept dressing in men's clothing when she came back in France. This was against the law in France at the time, but when she returned from the Middle East she received special "permission de travestissement" from the prefect of police." 
   One may also safely speculate that this prefect of police was a male at that time who issued this permission to cross-dress to her! One may further speculate that women in male clothing at the time were perhaps not so rare as generally believed.
4. "It is difficult to determine Dieulafoy's motives for choosing to wear men's clothing. She wrote, "I only do this to save time. I buy ready-made suits and I can use the time saved this way to do more work" but, given that she includes many characters who cross-dress in her fiction ... she was clearly fascinated with the subject of cross-dressing and her motives appear to be more complex than mere convenience."
5. "Dieulafoy considered herself an equal to her husband, but was also fiercely loyal to him. She was opposed to the idea of divorce, believing it degraded women."
   Well that may disappoint some feminists!
6. "During the First World War, she petitioned for allowing women a greater role in the military."
   Gender equality certainly means that women like men should be e.g. drafted into military service and into combat roles. Many feminists most certainly do not like this idea to bring women in harms way, they rarely demand military service equality to the best of my knowledge! 

Jane Dieulafoy, a 19th-century French archaeologist, broke the law by wearing pants. (behind paywall) Jane Dieulafoy wore men's clothes in the 1800s, but France looked the other way. She became a celebrity, renowned for discovering ancient Persian treasures.

Jane Dieulafoy (Wikipedia)