Marie Marvingt
Encyclopedia
Marie Marvingt was a French
athlete, mountaineer
, and aviator
, and the most decorated
woman in the history of France
. She won numerous prizes for her sporting achievements and was the first woman to climb many of the peaks in the French and Swiss Alps
. She was a record-breaking balloonist
, a pioneering aviator and during World War I
became the first woman to fly combat missions as a bomber pilot. She was also a qualified surgical nurse, was the first trained and certified Flight Nurse in the world, and worked for the establishment of air ambulance
services throughout the world.
in the Cantal
département of France
, although her family moved to Metz
, at that time part of Germany
, from 1880-1889. The family moved to Nancy in the Meurthe-et-Moselle
département in 1889, where she lived for the rest of her life.
She was encouraged to participate in sports by her father, Felix, and at the age of 5 she could already swim
4000m. She enjoyed many other sports including water polo
, horse riding
, athletics, boxing
, martial arts
, fencing, shooting
, tennis
, golf
, hockey
, football
, winter sport
s, and mountaineering
, and also practiced circus skills
. In 1890, at the age of 15, she canoed
over 400 kilometers from Nancy to Koblenz
, Germany
. In 1899 she earned her driving licence.
, fencing, shooting
, ski jumping
, speed skating
, luge
and bobsledding
. She was also a skilled mountaineer and between 1903 and 1910 she became the first woman to climb most of the peaks in the French and Swiss
Alps
– including traversing Grands Charmoz and Grépon
from Chamonix
in a single day. In 1905 during a race she became the first French woman to swim the length of the Seine
through Paris
. The newspapers nickname
d her "l'amphibie rouge" ("the red amphibian") from the colour of her swimming costume. In 1907 she won an international military shooting competition using a French army
carbine
and became the only woman ever awarded the palms du Premier Tireur (First Gunner palms) by a French Minister of War. She dominated the 1908 to 1910 winter sport
s seasons at Chamonix, Gérardmer
, and Ballon d'Alsace
, where she achieved first place on more than 20 occasions. On 26 January 1910 she won the Coupe Leon Auscher (Leon Auscher Cup) in the women's bobsledding world championship. She enjoyed cycling
and rode from Nancy, France
, to Naples
, Italy
, to see a volcanic eruption. In 1908 she was refused permission to participate in the Tour de France
because the race was only open to men. Marvingt refused to relinquish her ambition and cycled the course after the race. She successfully completed the gruelling ride, a feat which only 36 of 114 male riders had managed that year. On 15 March 1910 the Académie des Sports (French Academy of Sports) awarded her a Médaille d'Or (Gold Medal) "for all sports", the only multi-sport medal they have ever awarded.
for the first time in 1901. On 19 July 1907 she piloted a balloon for the first time. In September 1909 she made her first solo flight as a balloon pilot. In the same month she also experienced her first flight as a passenger in an aeroplane
piloted by Roger Sommer. On 26 October 1909 Marvingt became the first woman to pilot a balloon across the North Sea
and English Channel
from Europe
to England
. Her balloon was called L'Étoile Filante (The Shooting Star/"The Comet"). She won prizes for ballooning in 1909 and 1910, and earned her balloon pilot's license (#145 in 1910). During 1910 she studied fixed-wing
aviation with Hubert Latham in an Antoinette aeroplane. She piloted and flew solo in a monoplane
, often credited as the first woman to do so, although she was the second to be licensed in a monoplane (the first being Marthe Niel). She proposed the development of fixed-wing aircraft as air ambulance
s to the French government as early as 1910. On 10 June 1910 she received her balloon pilot's licence from the Aéro-Club de France (Aero Club of France) (#281). On 8 November 1910 Marvingt became the third woman in the world licenced as an aeroplane pilot, the third Frenchwoman after Raymonde de Laroche
and Marthe Niel, and the only woman ever licenced in the difficult to fly Antoinette monoplane. In her first 900 flights she never "broke wood" in a crash, a record unequalled at that time. She participated in many airshows and in December 1910, while competing in Turin
for the Coupe Femina (Femina Cup), she set the first official women's flight records for duration and distance at 53 minutes and 42 kilometers. In 1911 she won the Coupe Femina. With the help of Deperdussin company engineer Becherau (who also designed the SPAD fighter), she designed the first practical air ambulance. She carried out a campaign to raise money to purchase one for the French Government and the Red Cross, and in 1912 she ordered an air ambulance from Deperdussin
, but it was never delivered because the business failed after the owner, Armand Deperdussin, embezzled company money.
In 1914 Marvingt was drawn by Émile Friant
with her proposed air ambulance. During World War I
she disguised herself as a man and, with the connivance of a French infantry lieutenant, served on the front lines as a Chasseur 2ième Classe (Soldier, 2nd Class) in the 42ième Bataillon de Chasseurs à Pied (42nd Battalion of Foot Soldiers). She was discovered and sent home but later participated in military operations with the Italian 3ème Régiment de Chasseurs Alpins (3rd Regiment of Alpine Soldiers) in the Italian Dolomites
at the direct request of Marshal Foch
. She also served as a Red Cross nurse. In 1915 Marvingt became the first woman in the world to fly combat missions when she became a volunteer pilot flying bombing missions over German-held territory and she received the Croix de Guerre (Military Cross) for her aerial bombing of a German military base in Metz
. Between the two World Wars she worked as a journalist, war correspondent, and medical officer with French Forces in North Africa
. While in Morocco
she invented metal ski
s and suggested their use on aeroplanes landing on sand.
, giving more than 3000 conferences and seminars on the subject on at least four continents. She was co-founder of the French organisation Les Amies De L'Aviation Sanitaire (Friends of Aviation Medicine) and was also one of the organizers behind the success of the First International Congress on Medical Aviation in 1929. In 1931 she created the Challenge Capitaine-Écheman (Captain Écheman Challenge) which gave a prize for the best air ambulance
design. In 1934 she established a civil air ambulance service in Morocco
and was subsequently awarded the Medaille de la Paix du Maroc (Medal of Peace of Morocco). In the same year she developed training courses for the Infirmières de l'Air (Nurses of the Air) and in 1935 became the first person certified as a Flight Nurse. In 1934 and 1935 she wrote, directed and appeared in two documentary films about the history, development and use of air ambulances: Les Ailes qui Sauvent (Wings which Save) and Sauvés par la Colombe (Saved by the Dove). On January 24, 1935 Marvingt was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
(Chevalier of the Legion of Honour). With the outbreak of World War II
in 1939 she established a convalescent centre for wounded aviators. During the war she served as a surgical nurse and invented a new type of surgical suture. On 30 January 1955 she received the Deutsch de la Meurthe grand prize from the Fédération Nationale d'Aéronautique (French National Federation of Aeronautics) at the Sorbonne
for her work in aviation medicine
.
in an American fighter jet. In the same year she also studied piloting helicopters, though she never earned her helicopter pilot's licence. In 1961, at the age of 86, she cycled from Nancy to Paris
.
département, France
. Her funeral was on 17 December in Saint-Epvre and she was buried in a cemetery at Preville in Nancy.
In France there are streets, gymnasiums, schools, flying clubs, scout groups, and an apartment complex named after her. France issued an air mail stamp in her honour on 29 June 2004. Several annual awards are given in her memory including those of the Soroptimist Club of Aurillac
, France, and one sponsored by the French Aviation and Space Medicine Association (SOFRAMAS) through the United States Aerospace Medical Association.
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
athlete, mountaineer
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
, and aviator
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
, and the most decorated
Order (decoration)
An order or order of merit is a visible honour, awarded by a government, dynastic house or international organization to an individual, usually in recognition of distinguished service to a nation or to humanity. The distinction between orders and decorations is somewhat vague, except that most...
woman in the history of France
History of France
The history of France goes back to the arrival of the earliest human being in what is now France. Members of the genus Homo entered the area hundreds of thousands years ago, while the first modern Homo sapiens, the Cro-Magnons, arrived around 40,000 years ago...
. She won numerous prizes for her sporting achievements and was the first woman to climb many of the peaks in the French and Swiss Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
. She was a record-breaking balloonist
Balloon (aircraft)
A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
, a pioneering aviator and during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
became the first woman to fly combat missions as a bomber pilot. She was also a qualified surgical nurse, was the first trained and certified Flight Nurse in the world, and worked for the establishment of air ambulance
Air ambulance
An air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport....
services throughout the world.
Early life
Marie Marvingt was born on 20 February 1875 in AurillacAurillac
Aurillac is a commune in the Auvergne region in south-central France, capital of the Cantal department.Aurillac's inhabitants are called Aurillacois, and are also Cantaliens or Cantalous in Occitan....
in the Cantal
Cantal
Cantal is a department in south-central France. It is named after the Cantal mountain range, a group of extinct, eroded volcanic peaks, which covers much of the department. Residents are known as Cantaliens or Cantalous....
département of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, although her family moved to Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
, at that time part of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, from 1880-1889. The family moved to Nancy in the Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle is a department in the Lorraine region of France, named after the Meurthe and Moselle rivers.- History :Meurthe-et-Moselle was created in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War from the parts of the former departments of Moselle and Meurthe which remained French...
département in 1889, where she lived for the rest of her life.
She was encouraged to participate in sports by her father, Felix, and at the age of 5 she could already swim
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
4000m. She enjoyed many other sports including water polo
Water polo
Water polo is a team water sport. The playing team consists of six field players and one goalkeeper. The winner of the game is the team that scores more goals. Game play involves swimming, treading water , players passing the ball while being defended by opponents, and scoring by throwing into a...
, horse riding
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
, athletics, boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, martial arts
Martial arts
Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
, fencing, shooting
Shooting sports
A shooting sport is a competitive sport involving tests of proficiency using various types of guns such as firearms and airguns . Hunting is also a shooting sport, and indeed shooting live pigeons was an Olympic event...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
, golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
, football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
, winter sport
Winter sport
A winter sport is a sport which is played on snow or ice. Most such sports are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally such sports were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and ice allow more flexibility...
s, and mountaineering
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
, and also practiced circus skills
Circus skills
Circus skills are a group of pursuits that have been performed as entertainment in circus, sideshow, busking or variety/vaudeville/music hall shows. Most circus skills are still being performed today. Many are also practiced by non-performers as a hobby....
. In 1890, at the age of 15, she canoed
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
over 400 kilometers from Nancy to Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In 1899 she earned her driving licence.
Sporting success
Marvingt became a world-class athlete who won numerous prizes in swimmingSwimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
, fencing, shooting
Shooting sports
A shooting sport is a competitive sport involving tests of proficiency using various types of guns such as firearms and airguns . Hunting is also a shooting sport, and indeed shooting live pigeons was an Olympic event...
, ski jumping
Ski jumping
Ski jumping is a sport in which skiers go down a take-off ramp, jump and attempt to land as far as possible down the hill below. In addition to the length of the jump, judges give points for style. The skis used for ski jumping are wide and long...
, speed skating
Speed skating
Speed skating, or speedskating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in traveling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating...
, luge
Luge
A Luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine and feet-first. Steering is done by flexing the sled's runners with the calf of each leg or exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh 21-25 kilograms for singles and 25-30 kilograms for doubles. Luge...
and bobsledding
Bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a winter sport in which teams of two or four make timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sled that are combined to calculate the final score....
. She was also a skilled mountaineer and between 1903 and 1910 she became the first woman to climb most of the peaks in the French and Swiss
Swiss Alps
The Swiss Alps are the portion of the Alps mountain range that lies within Switzerland. Because of their central position within the entire Alpine range, they are also known as the Central Alps....
Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
– including traversing Grands Charmoz and Grépon
Graian Alps
The Graian Alps are a mountain range in the western part of the Alps. They are located in France , Italy , and Switzerland...
from Chamonix
Chamonix
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc or, more commonly, Chamonix is a commune in the Haute-Savoie département in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It was the site of the 1924 Winter Olympics, the first Winter Olympics...
in a single day. In 1905 during a race she became the first French woman to swim the length of the Seine
Seine
The Seine is a -long river and an important commercial waterway within the Paris Basin in the north of France. It rises at Saint-Seine near Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plateau, flowing through Paris and into the English Channel at Le Havre . It is navigable by ocean-going vessels...
through Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. The newspapers nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
d her "l'amphibie rouge" ("the red amphibian") from the colour of her swimming costume. In 1907 she won an international military shooting competition using a French army
French Army
The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre , is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces.As of 2010, the army employs 123,100 regulars, 18,350 part-time reservists and 7,700 Legionnaires. All soldiers are professionals, following the suspension of conscription, voted in...
carbine
Carbine
A carbine , from French carabine, is a longarm similar to but shorter than a rifle or musket. Many carbines are shortened versions of full rifles, firing the same ammunition at a lower velocity due to a shorter barrel length....
and became the only woman ever awarded the palms du Premier Tireur (First Gunner palms) by a French Minister of War. She dominated the 1908 to 1910 winter sport
Winter sport
A winter sport is a sport which is played on snow or ice. Most such sports are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally such sports were only played in cold areas during winter, but artificial snow and ice allow more flexibility...
s seasons at Chamonix, Gérardmer
Gérardmer
Gérardmer is a commune in the Vosges department in Lorraine in northeastern France.-Culture:The Fantastic'Arts festival of horror and fantastic film has been held in Gérardmer each year since 1994.-External links:...
, and Ballon d'Alsace
Ballon d'Alsace
Ballon d'Alsace is a mountain at the border of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté. From its top, views include the Vosges, the Rhine valley, and the Black Forest.A road leads over a pass near the peak at ....
, where she achieved first place on more than 20 occasions. On 26 January 1910 she won the Coupe Leon Auscher (Leon Auscher Cup) in the women's bobsledding world championship. She enjoyed cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
and rode from Nancy, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, to Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, to see a volcanic eruption. In 1908 she was refused permission to participate in the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...
because the race was only open to men. Marvingt refused to relinquish her ambition and cycled the course after the race. She successfully completed the gruelling ride, a feat which only 36 of 114 male riders had managed that year. On 15 March 1910 the Académie des Sports (French Academy of Sports) awarded her a Médaille d'Or (Gold Medal) "for all sports", the only multi-sport medal they have ever awarded.
Achievements in aviation
Marvingt ascended in a balloonBalloon (aircraft)
A balloon is a type of aircraft that remains aloft due to its buoyancy. A balloon travels by moving with the wind. It is distinct from an airship, which is a buoyant aircraft that can be propelled through the air in a controlled manner....
for the first time in 1901. On 19 July 1907 she piloted a balloon for the first time. In September 1909 she made her first solo flight as a balloon pilot. In the same month she also experienced her first flight as a passenger in an aeroplane
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
piloted by Roger Sommer. On 26 October 1909 Marvingt became the first woman to pilot a balloon across the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
and English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Her balloon was called L'Étoile Filante (The Shooting Star/"The Comet"). She won prizes for ballooning in 1909 and 1910, and earned her balloon pilot's license (#145 in 1910). During 1910 she studied fixed-wing
Fixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
aviation with Hubert Latham in an Antoinette aeroplane. She piloted and flew solo in a monoplane
Monoplane
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...
, often credited as the first woman to do so, although she was the second to be licensed in a monoplane (the first being Marthe Niel). She proposed the development of fixed-wing aircraft as air ambulance
Air ambulance
An air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport....
s to the French government as early as 1910. On 10 June 1910 she received her balloon pilot's licence from the Aéro-Club de France (Aero Club of France) (#281). On 8 November 1910 Marvingt became the third woman in the world licenced as an aeroplane pilot, the third Frenchwoman after Raymonde de Laroche
Raymonde de LaRoche
Raymonde de Laroche , born Elise Raymonde Deroche, was a French aviatrix and the first woman in the world to receive an aeroplane pilot's licence.-Early life:...
and Marthe Niel, and the only woman ever licenced in the difficult to fly Antoinette monoplane. In her first 900 flights she never "broke wood" in a crash, a record unequalled at that time. She participated in many airshows and in December 1910, while competing in Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
for the Coupe Femina (Femina Cup), she set the first official women's flight records for duration and distance at 53 minutes and 42 kilometers. In 1911 she won the Coupe Femina. With the help of Deperdussin company engineer Becherau (who also designed the SPAD fighter), she designed the first practical air ambulance. She carried out a campaign to raise money to purchase one for the French Government and the Red Cross, and in 1912 she ordered an air ambulance from Deperdussin
Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés
SPAD was a French aircraft manufacturer between 1911 and 1921. Its SPAD S.XIII biplane was the most popular French fighter airplane in World War I.-Deperdussin:...
, but it was never delivered because the business failed after the owner, Armand Deperdussin, embezzled company money.
World War I and the French armed forces
Émile Friant
Émile Friant was a French artist. Friant was born in the commune of Dieuze, however he was later forced to flee to Nancy. Throughout his lifetime, his paintings were featured at the Salon. Friant died after a fall in Paris in 1932.- Early life :Friant was born in the commune of Dieuze in 1863...
with her proposed air ambulance. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
she disguised herself as a man and, with the connivance of a French infantry lieutenant, served on the front lines as a Chasseur 2ième Classe (Soldier, 2nd Class) in the 42ième Bataillon de Chasseurs à Pied (42nd Battalion of Foot Soldiers). She was discovered and sent home but later participated in military operations with the Italian 3ème Régiment de Chasseurs Alpins (3rd Regiment of Alpine Soldiers) in the Italian Dolomites
Dolomites
The Dolomites are a mountain range located in north-eastern Italy. It is a part of Southern Limestone Alps and extends from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Valley in the east. The northern and southern borders are defined by the Puster Valley and the Sugana Valley...
at the direct request of Marshal Foch
Ferdinand Foch
Ferdinand Foch , GCB, OM, DSO was a French soldier, war hero, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French army" in the early 20th century. He served as general in the French army during World War I and was made Marshal of France in its...
. She also served as a Red Cross nurse. In 1915 Marvingt became the first woman in the world to fly combat missions when she became a volunteer pilot flying bombing missions over German-held territory and she received the Croix de Guerre (Military Cross) for her aerial bombing of a German military base in Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
. Between the two World Wars she worked as a journalist, war correspondent, and medical officer with French Forces in North Africa
North Africa
North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
. While in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
she invented metal ski
Ski
A ski is a long, flat device worn on the foot, usually attached through a boot, designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now mainly used for recreational and sporting purposes...
s and suggested their use on aeroplanes landing on sand.
Air ambulances
Marvingt devoted the remainder of her long life to the concept of aeromedical evacuationAir ambulance
An air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport....
, giving more than 3000 conferences and seminars on the subject on at least four continents. She was co-founder of the French organisation Les Amies De L'Aviation Sanitaire (Friends of Aviation Medicine) and was also one of the organizers behind the success of the First International Congress on Medical Aviation in 1929. In 1931 she created the Challenge Capitaine-Écheman (Captain Écheman Challenge) which gave a prize for the best air ambulance
Air ambulance
An air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport....
design. In 1934 she established a civil air ambulance service in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and was subsequently awarded the Medaille de la Paix du Maroc (Medal of Peace of Morocco). In the same year she developed training courses for the Infirmières de l'Air (Nurses of the Air) and in 1935 became the first person certified as a Flight Nurse. In 1934 and 1935 she wrote, directed and appeared in two documentary films about the history, development and use of air ambulances: Les Ailes qui Sauvent (Wings which Save) and Sauvés par la Colombe (Saved by the Dove). On January 24, 1935 Marvingt was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
(Chevalier of the Legion of Honour). With the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1939 she established a convalescent centre for wounded aviators. During the war she served as a surgical nurse and invented a new type of surgical suture. On 30 January 1955 she received the Deutsch de la Meurthe grand prize from the Fédération Nationale d'Aéronautique (French National Federation of Aeronautics) at the Sorbonne
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
for her work in aviation medicine
Aviation medicine
Aviation medicine, also called flight medicine or aerospace medicine, is a preventive or occupational medicine in which the patients/subjects are pilots, aircrews, or persons involved in spaceflight...
.
An octogenarian aviator
On 20 February 1955, her eightieth birthday, Marvingt was flown over Nancy by a U.S. Air Force officer from Toul-Rosières Air BaseToul-Rosieres Air Base
Toul-Rosières Air Base is a reserve French Air Force base. It is located in the Meurthe-et-Moselle département of France, 10 miles northeast of the city of Toul, on the west side of the Route nationale 411 Highway about one mile southeast of Rosières-en-Haye.Toul Air Base was used by American...
in an American fighter jet. In the same year she also studied piloting helicopters, though she never earned her helicopter pilot's licence. In 1961, at the age of 86, she cycled from Nancy to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Death and afterward
Marvingt died on 14 December 1963, at the age of 88, in Laxou, Meurthe-et-MoselleMeurthe-et-Moselle
Meurthe-et-Moselle is a department in the Lorraine region of France, named after the Meurthe and Moselle rivers.- History :Meurthe-et-Moselle was created in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War from the parts of the former departments of Moselle and Meurthe which remained French...
département, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Her funeral was on 17 December in Saint-Epvre and she was buried in a cemetery at Preville in Nancy.
In France there are streets, gymnasiums, schools, flying clubs, scout groups, and an apartment complex named after her. France issued an air mail stamp in her honour on 29 June 2004. Several annual awards are given in her memory including those of the Soroptimist Club of Aurillac
Aurillac
Aurillac is a commune in the Auvergne region in south-central France, capital of the Cantal department.Aurillac's inhabitants are called Aurillacois, and are also Cantaliens or Cantalous in Occitan....
, France, and one sponsored by the French Aviation and Space Medicine Association (SOFRAMAS) through the United States Aerospace Medical Association.
Non-fiction
- La Fiancée du Danger (Fiancee of Danger)
- Ma Traversée de la Mer du Nord en Ballon (My North Sea Crossing in a Balloon)
- Les Ailes qui Sauvent (Wings which Save), 1949 (Listed in many works on Marvingt, no copy of this publication has been found—If anyone can find it, a detailed citation and location would be appreciated.)
- Sauvés par la Colombe (Saved by the Dove), 1950 (Listed in many works on Marvingt, no copy of this publication has been found—If anyone can find it, a detailed citation and location would be appreciated.)
- Marvingt also published many articles and papers.
Fiction and poetry
- Marvingt wrote fiction and prize-winning poetry under the pseudonym Myriel.
Films
- Les Ailes qui Sauvent (The Wings which Save), 1934, writer, director and actor/presenter (This film still exists.)
- Sauvés par la Colombe (Saved by the Dove), 1935, writer, director and actor/presenter (This film seems to have disappeared entirely, and no copy has been found in spite of much effort.)
Awards
- Marvingt was the most decoratedOrder (decoration)An order or order of merit is a visible honour, awarded by a government, dynastic house or international organization to an individual, usually in recognition of distinguished service to a nation or to humanity. The distinction between orders and decorations is somewhat vague, except that most...
woman in the history of FranceHistory of FranceThe history of France goes back to the arrival of the earliest human being in what is now France. Members of the genus Homo entered the area hundreds of thousands years ago, while the first modern Homo sapiens, the Cro-Magnons, arrived around 40,000 years ago...
with more than 34 official medals and decorations. - Awarded the Palmes Académiques (Academic Palms).
- Awarded the Médaille de l'AéronautiqueMédaille de l'AéronautiqueThe Médaille de l'Aéronautique is an order of merit created on 14 February 1945.-History:Before the Second World War, it was envisioned to create an award similar to the Order of Maritime Merit, an Order of Merit, Air, intended for personal civil and military aeronautics. But the war put an end to...
(Medal for Aeronautics). - 1907, awarded the palms du Premier Tireur (First Gunner palms) by the Minister of War.
- 26 January 1910, won the Coupe Leon Auscher (Leon Auscher Cup) in the women's bobsledding world championship.
- 15 March 1910, awarded a Médaille d'Or (Gold Medal) "for all sports" from the Académie des Sports (Academy of Sports).
- 1911, won the Aéro-Club de France's (Aero Club of France) Coupe Femina (Femina Cup) for long-distance flying.
- Awarded the Croix de Guerre 1914 -1918 avec palmes (Military Cross 1914-1918 with palms) for her aerial bombing of a German military base.
- Awarded the Médaille de la Paix du Maroc (Medal of Peace of MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
) for establishing a civil air ambulanceAir ambulanceAn air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport....
service. - January 24, 1935, named a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
(Chevalier of the Legion of Honour). - 5 November 1937, named a Chevalier dans l'Ordre de la Santé publique (Chevalier of the Order of Public Health).
- 1948-1949, won an international literary prize from the Women's Aeronautical Association of Los Angeles for her books La Fiancée du Danger and Ma Traversée de la Mer du Nord en Ballon.
- 1949, promoted to Officier de la Légion d'honneurLégion d'honneurThe Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
(Officer of the Legion of Honour). - 1950, awarded the Médaille de la Ville de Nancy (Medal of the Town of Nancy).
- 30 January 1955, received the grand prize Deutsch de la Meurthe from the Fédération Nationale d'Aéronautique (French National Federation of Aeronautics) at the SorbonneUniversity of ParisThe University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
for her work in aviation medicineAviation medicineAviation medicine, also called flight medicine or aerospace medicine, is a preventive or occupational medicine in which the patients/subjects are pilots, aircrews, or persons involved in spaceflight...
. - 1957, awarded the Médaille d'Or de l'Éducation Physique (Gold Medal for Physical Education).
- 1957, awarded the Médaille d'Argent du Service de Santé de l'Air (Silver Medal of the Medical Service of the Air Force).
Trivia
- Marvingt could speak five languages including EsperantoEsperantois the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
. - She earned the nicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
"" (the fiancee of danger). - In 1922 she bet 10,000 dollars that nobody could better her list of prizes in sport, art, science and travel. She reissued her bet through the newspapers in 1936 and on television in 1948 but there were still no challengers at the time of her death.
- In 1928 Marshal FochFerdinand FochFerdinand Foch , GCB, OM, DSO was a French soldier, war hero, military theorist, and writer credited with possessing "the most original and subtle mind in the French army" in the early 20th century. He served as general in the French army during World War I and was made Marshal of France in its...
wrote of her,
External links
- http://centenaire-mariemarvingt.com/la_biographie_de_marie_marvingt_072.htm
- http://www.filmsdocumentaires.com/films/109-marie-marvingt-la-fiancee-du-danger
- http://www.cantalpassion.com/20091209874/marie_marvingt.htm