Marthe Niel
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Marthe Niel, née Marie Ange Denieul, (29 December 1878 – 18 November 1928) was a French aviator who received her pilot's licence on 19 September 1910, shortly after Raymonde de Laroche, so becoming the second woman in the world to earn an aeroplane pilot's licence.[1][2]
Early life
Niel was born as Marie-Ange Denieul on 29 December 1878 in Le Cannée, a hamlet in the commune of Paimpont, Ille-et-Vilaine. She was the daughter of Joachim Denieul, a farm worker, and his wife Marie-Joseph Saget.[3] On 9 May 1900, she married Pierre Firmin Fontalbat, a wine merchant, after which she worked as a cook. They divorced on 4 February 1904.[4]
Career as an aviator
In April 1910, she was admitted to the piloting school founded by the aeroplane builder Paul Koechlin at Mourmelon-le-Grand to the south-east of Reims.[5] It is reported that on 9 June 1910, Marcel Hanriot, flying a monoplane, overtook Niel who was flying a biplane, while returning from Bétheny to Mourmelon.[6]
On 19 September 1910, after flying a Koechlin monoplane, she received Licence No. 226 from the Aéro-Club de France.[1]
References
- 1 2 Lebow, Eileen F. (2002). Before Amelia: Women Pilots in the Early Days of Aviation. Potomac Books, Inc. pp. 83–. ISBN 978-1-61234-225-2.
- ↑ Lam, David (23 March 2003). "Marthe Niel 1880-1929". Early Birds. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- ↑ "Acte de naissance n°97 de Marie Ange Denieul, Archives départementales d’Ille-et-Vilaine : cote 10 NUM 35211 670". Archives Municipales de Paimpont.
- ↑ "Niel Marthe: une pionnière de l'aviation" (in French). Encyclopédie de Brocéliande. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
- ↑ Marck, Bernard (2009). Elles ont conquis le ciel: 100 femmes qui ont fait l'histoire de l'aviation et de l'espace. Arthaud. pp. 27–.
- ↑ "Marcel Hanriot, plus jeune pilote d'Europe" (PDF) (in French). Hartmann, Gérard. Retrieved 16 December 2016.