Hélène Dutrieu

Hélène Dutrieu

Hélène Dutrieu dressed for flying
Born 10 July 1877
Tournai, Belgium
Died 26 June 1961 (aged 83)
Paris, France
Occupation Cycle racer, stunt driver and aviator
Spouse(s) Pierre Mortier

Hélène Dutrieu (10 July 1877 – 26 June 1961), was a cycling world champion, stunt cyclist, stunt motorcyclist, automobile racer, stunt driver, pioneer aviator, wartime ambulance driver, and director of a military hospital.[1][2]

Biography

Hélène Dutrieu was born on 10 July 1877 in Tournai, Belgium, the daughter of a Belgian Army officer. She left school at the age of 14 to earn a living.

Cycling success

Dutrieu became a professional track cyclist racing for the Simpson Lever Chain team. In 1893 she gained the women's world record for distance cycled in one hour.[3] In 1897 and 1898 she won the women's speed track cycling world championship in Ostend, Belgium, and earned the nickname "La Flèche Humaine" ("The Human Arrow"). In August 1898 she won the Grand Prix d’Europe (Grand Prix of Europe) and in November of that year she won the Course de 12 Jours (12-day race) in London, England. Leopold II of Belgium awarded Dutrieu the Cross of St André with diamonds in honour of her cycling success. She later began performing in variety shows as a cycling speciality act and in July 1903 she cycled a loop inside a vertical track at the Eldorado in Marseille, France. In September 1903 she appeared at Olympia, London. She became a successful stunt cyclist, a motorcycle stunt rider, an automobile racer and stunt driver.

Achievements in aviation

Hélène Dutrieu in her aeroplane, c. 1911.

Dutrieu learned to fly using a Santos-Dumont Demoiselle monoplane in early 1910.[4] On 19 April 1910 she reputedly became the first woman pilot to fly with a passenger. On 25 November 1910 Dutrieu became the fourth woman in the world, and the first Belgian woman, licensed as an aeroplane pilot, receiving Aéro-Club de Belgique (Aero Club of Belgium) licence #27. Her appearances at air shows earned her the nickname the "Girl Hawk". There was a minor scandal early in her aviation career when it was revealed to the press that she did not wear a corset while flying. In September 1910 Dutrieu flew non-stop from Ostend to Bruges, Belgium. From 26 September to 1 October she flew, frequently carrying passengers, at the aviation week in Burton-upon-Trent, England. She was the first woman pilot to stay airborne for more than an hour and on 21 December 1910 she became the first winner of the Coupe Femina (Femina Cup) for a non-stop flight of 167 km in 2 hours 35 minutes. In 1911 she regained the Coupe Femina temporarily with a flight of 254 km in 2 hours 58 minutes but that year's cup was eventually won by Marie Marvingt. In September 1911 Dutrieu travelled to the United States with her Henry Farman type III biplane. She competed for the women's altitude record and the Rodman-Wanamaker trophy, subsequently won by Matilde Moisant, at the Nassau Boulevard airfield meeting in Garden City, New York. In the same year Dutrieu beat 14 male pilots to win the Coppa del Re (King's Cup) in Florence, Italy. In 1912 she reputedly became the first woman to pilot a seaplane. Later the same year she won a prize in competition against four other seaplane pilots, including Réne Caudron, at Ouchy-Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1913 Dutrieu became the first woman aviator awarded membership of the Légion d'honneur (French Legion of Honour).

World War I and afterward

During World War I Dutrieu became an ambulance driver. Général Février put her in charge of the ambulances at Messimi Hospital. She later became the director of Campagne à Val-de Grâce military hospital. After the war she became a journalist. In 1922 she married Pierre Mortier and took French nationality. She later became vice president of the women’s section of the Aéro-Club de France (Aero Club of France). In 1953 she was awarded the Médaille de l'Aéronautique (French Medal for Aeronautics). In 1956 she created the Coupe Hélène Dutrieu-Mortier (Hélène Dutrieu-Mortier Cup) with a prize of 200,000 francs for the French or Belgian woman pilot who made the longest non-stop flight each year.

Death

Hélène Dutrieu died in Paris, France, on 26 June 1961, at the age of 83.[1][5]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Helene Dutrieu, Aviator, Is Dead. French Pioneer Flier Won Legion of Honor in 1913.". Ralph Cooper. Retrieved 2008-05-31. Although often referred to as French, Hélène was a Belgian (In 1922 she married a Frenchman, took up French nationality, and lived in France). She was born at Tournai on 10 July 1877. Like so many of the other early female aviators, she was a sportswoman who took up flying as a new sport. She lived in Paris, where she was a music-hall performer. Further, she was a champion on the bicycle, holding several speed records, including those of 1897-1999. ...
  2. ↑ "Hélène Dutrieu". National Air and Space Museum. Retrieved 2010-09-11. Helene Dutrieu of Belgium was known as the "girl hawk" of aviation because she was the most daring and accomplished woman pilot of her time. She first soloed in France in 1909 and within a year was setting altitude and distance records. She thrilled the world in September of 1910 by flying non-stop from Ostend to Bruges, Belgium and she became the first Belgian woman to receive a pilot license on 25 November 1910. During her second year as an aviator ...
  3. ↑ Clemitson, Suze (19 September 2014). "Why Jens Voigt and a new group of cyclists want to break the Hour record". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2014.
  4. ↑ Flight, 8 January 1910, p.28.
  5. ↑ "French Pioneer Flier Won Legion of Honor in 1913". New York Times. 28 June 1961. Retrieved 2008-06-14. Helene Dutrieu, pioneer woman aviator, died yesterday at the age of 84.

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