Matilde E. Moisant

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Matilde E. Moisant

Moisant in 1912 wearing a "good luck" swastika medallion
Born (1878-09-13)September 13, 1878
Earl Park, Indiana, U.S.
Died February 5, 1964(1964-02-05) (aged 85)
Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation Aviator
Parents Medore Moisant
Josephine Fortier
Matilde Moisant (left) and Harriet Quimby

Matilde E. Moisant (September 13, 1878 – February 5, 1964) was an American pioneer aviator. She was the second woman in the United States to get a pilot's license.[1][2]

Early life

Moisant was born in Earl Park, Indiana to Médore Moisant and Joséphine Fortier. Both parents were French Canadians. Her siblings include George, John, Annie M., Alfred, Louisa J. and Eunice Moisant. John and Alfred were also aviators. In 1880, the family was living in Manteno, Illinois and her father was working as a farmer.

Aviation career

Moisant learned to fly at Alfred's Moisant Aviation School on Long Island, New York. In 1911, a few weeks after her friend Harriet Quimby received her pilot's certificate, Matilde Moisant became the second woman pilot certified by the Aero Club of America. She pursued a career in exhibition flying. In September 1911, she flew in the air show at Nassau Boulevard airfield in Garden City, New York and, while competing against Hélène Dutrieu, Moisant broke the women's altitude world record and won the Rodman-Wanamaker trophy by flying to 1,200 feet (370 m).

Retirement from flying

Moisant stopped flying on April 14, 1912 in Wichita Falls, Texas when her plane crashed (the same day that the Titanic sank). Less than two months later, her friend Harriet Quimby was killed when she fell from her plane. Although Moisant recovered from her injuries, she gave up flying, and moved to the family plantation in San Salvador.

Death

Matilde Moisant died in 1964 in Glendale, California, aged 85, and was interred in the Portal of Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.[1]

Timeline

  • 1878 Birth in Indiana
  • 1880 Living in Manteno, Kankakee, Illinois
  • 1880 US Census in Manteno, Illinois
  • 1900 US Census in California
  • 1910 Death of John B. Moisant, her brother
  • 1911 Received pilot's certificate
  • 1911 Won Rodman-Wanamaker altitude trophy
  • 1912 Crash in Texas on April 14
  • 1920 Living in Los Angeles, California
  • 1920 US Census in Los Angeles, California
  • 1930 US Census in La Crescenta, California
  • 1964 Death in California
  • 1964 Burial In Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Matilde Moisant, Early Flyer, Dies. Second Woman in Country to Get Pilot's License.". New York Times. February 7, 1964. 
  2. ↑ "Miss Moisant Wins License. Second Woman In This Country To Prove Her Ability To Fly.". New York Times. August 14, 1911. Retrieved 2008-05-31. "Garden City, Long Island. August 13, 1911. With the wind eddies flattened to almost a dead calm, Miss Matilda Moisant, sister of the late John B. Moisant, who was killed at New Orleans last January, distinguished herself this morning as the second woman in this country to win a pilot's license under the rules of the Aero Club of America." 

Further reading

  • New York Times; May 11, 1911; pg. 6; "Woman in trousers daring aviator. Long Island Folk Discover That Miss Harriet Quimby Is Making Flights at Garden City. Garden City, Long Island; May 10, 1911. Rumors that there was a young woman aviator at the Moisant Aviation School here who made daily flights at 4:30 A.M. have brought many Garden City folk and townspeople from Hempstead and Mineola to the flying grounds here on several mornings. These early risers have seen a slender, youthful figure in aviation jacket and trousers of wool-backed satin, with ..."
  • New York Times; Oct 09, 1911; pg. 1; "Escapes sheriff in her aeroplane; Matilde Moisant Takes to the Air Before He Can Arrest Her. Matilde Moisant, who became America's most notable woman flier after seeing her brother, the late John B. Moisant, make his celebrated flight around the Statue of Liberty, narrowly missed being thrown into jail yesterday in Nassau County for going into the air in her monoplane on Sunday."
  • Oakes, C. M.: United States Women in Aviation Through World War I; Smithsonian Institution Press, 1978.
  • Rich, D. L.: The Magnificent Moisants - Champions of Early Flight; Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998. ISBN 1-56098-860-6.

External links

Media related to Matilde Moisant at Wikimedia Commons

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