Henry de la Vaulx was a balloonist, author, and cofounder of major French and international aeronautical associations.

Biography

He was born in Bierville, France on April 2, 1870.

He undertook a trip to Patagonia in which he stayed in the local tribes from March 1896 to May 1897, and wrote a book about this experience.

In 1898, he was a co-founder of the Aero Club of France along with Ernest Archdeacon

Ernest Archdeacon

Ernest Archdeacon , was a prominent French lawyer of Irish descent who was associated with pioneering aviation in France before the First World War. He made his first balloon flight at the age of 20. He commissioned a copy of the 1902 Wright No. 3 glider but had only limited success...

, Léon Serpollet, Henri de la Valette, Jules Verne

Jules Verne

Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...

 and his wife, André Michelin

André Michelin

André Jules Michelin was aFrench industrialist who, with his brother Édouard , founded the Michelin Tyre Company in 1888 in the French city of Clermont-Ferrand.In 1900, André Michelin published the first Michelin Guide, the purpose of which was to promote tourism by car,...

, Albert de Dion

Albert de Dion

Marquis Jules Félix Philippe Albert de Dion was a pioneer of the automobile industry in France.-His life:...

, Alberto Santos-Dumont

Alberto Santos-Dumont

Alberto Santos-Dumont , was a Brazilian early pioneer of aviation. The heir of a wealthy family of coffee producers, Santos Dumont dedicated himself to science studies in Paris, France, where he spent most of his adult life....

, and Henry Deutsch de la Meurthe.

On Oct 9, 1900 he and a companion set a distance record in a balloon traveling 1200 miles from Paris to either Russia or Sweden in 35.75 hours. Also in 1900 he received the Grand Medal of the Aero Club of France for exceptional contributions to the progress of aviation.

In 1905 he cofounded and became a director of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale is the world governing body for air sports and aeronautics and astronautics world records. Its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. This includes man-carrying aerospace vehicles from balloons to spacecraft, and unmanned aerial vehicles...

 (FAI). The FAI now awards the De la Vaulx Medal

De la Vaulx Medal

The De la Vaulx Medal is an aviation award presented by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale , the international aviation standard setting and record-keeping body...

, named for him.
He visited the United States several times for ballooning ventures and the New York Times described him as one of the "most successful and daring balloonists in the world."

He developed airships for the Zodiac company

Zodiac Group

Zodiac, which became Zodiac Aerospace in 2007, is a French corporation, specialized in the production and development of on-board systems, safety systems and cabin interiors...

.

He published a dozen books, mostly on aviation.

He lived in the castle Rozoy-Bellevalle

Rozoy-Bellevalle

Rozoy-Bellevalle is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-References:*...

.

He died on a demonstration flight between Albany and New York City on April 18, 1930 and was buried in the Rozoy-Bellevalle cemetery.

Published works

• Voyage en Patagonie ; ouvrage contenant quarante illustrations d’après les photographies de l’auteur, et une carte hors texte, Préf. José-Maria de Heredia, Paris, Hachette, 1901
• Les Anciens Habitants des rives du Colhué Huapi (Patagonie), Paris, Leroux, 1902
• La Montagne d'amour : tableau de la vie Araucane, [S.l.s.n.], 1902
• L’Emploi des ballons à ballonnet d’après la théorie du général Meusnier, Paris, Gauthier-Villars, 1903
• L’Aérostation, Paris, Larousse, 1906
• Le Tour du monde de deux gosses ; le chemin des nuages, Paris, Tallandier, 1908
• Le Triomphe de la navigation aérienne, Paris, Tallandier, 1911
• Les Vainqueurs de l’air ; histoire de l’aéronautique: ses débuts sportifs, son application militaire, sa réalisation commerciale, Paris, Hachette, 1921
• L’Aéronautique des origines à 1922, Paris, Floury, 1922
• Cent Mille Lieues dans les airs, Paris, Arthéme Fayard, 1925
• Joseph et Étienne de Montgolfier, Paris, Annonay, 1926
• Un Tour du monde en aéroplane, Paris, Albin Michel, 1930
• Bibliothèque de feu M. le comte Henry de La Vaulx, Paris, Bosse, 1930

Naming and lexicography

• He was often referred to as "comte de La Vaulx." Comte
  Comte
  Comte is a title of Catalan, Occitan and French nobility. In the English language, the title is equivalent to count, a rank in several European nobilities. The corresponding rank in England is earl...
  
  is a French title analogous to the British title "Count."
• His first name is sometimes written as Henri, the usual French spelling, but on the book cover at left, he used the spelling "Henry."
• His name is usually alphabetized as La Vaulx, Henry de.