Hélène Dutrieu

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

Hélène Dutrieu
Hélène Dutrieu dressed for flying
Born(1877-07-10)10 July 1877
Tournai, Belgium
Died26 June 1961(1961-06-26) (aged 83)
Paris, France
OccupationCycle racer, stunt driver and aviator
Spouse(s)Pierre Mortier

Biography

Hélène Marguerite Dutrieu was born on 10 July 1877 in Tournai, Belgium, the daughter of a Belgian Army officer. The family later moved to Lille in northern France. She left school at the age of 14 to earn a living.

Cycling success
Hélène Dutrieux, probably in 1896. Bicycle equipped with Simpson Lever Chain.

Hélène Dutrieu began her cycle racing career inspired by her older brother Eugène[3][4]– a professional cyclist. She 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.[5][6] In 1896[7] and 1897[8] she won the women's speed track cycling world championship in Ostend, Belgium, but lost her title in 1898[9] to Louise Roger. In November 1896 she won the Course de 12 Jours (12-day race) in the Royal Aquarium, London, England,[10] and In August 1898 she won the Grand Prix d’Europe (Grand Prix of Europe). Leopold II of Belgium awarded Dutrieu the Cross of St André with diamonds in honour of her cycling success. She later became a motorcycle and automobile racer.

Stuntwoman

She 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. She also invented her own stunt, "La Flèche Humaine" ("The Human Arrow"), which was a c. 15 m jump with a bicycle.[11] In September 1903 she appeared at l'Olympia, Paris.[12][13] She also performed in London[14] (Crystal Palace), Berlin and other main cities.[15] Later, she moved on to motorcycle stunts (La Moto Ailée, Saut dans la Lune), but after a bad crash in Berlin 1904 she had to spend eight months recovering her health.[15]

Acting career

Hélène Dutrieu had played a small role at the Déjazet theatre in 1903[16] (she played “Hélène” in “Môssieu le Maire“ by Gustave Stoskopf[17]). After regaining her health she went back to the theatre playing comedy in 1906-1909. She performed on stages such as Théâtre des Capucines, Théâtre des Mathurins, Porte Saint-Martin and Théâtre Michel.[18]

Achievements in aviation
Hélène Dutrieu in her aeroplane, c. 1911.

Dutrieu learned to fly using a Santos-Dumont Demoiselle monoplane in early 1910.[19] 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.

She was also style conscious, wearing the first known high fashion pilot suit, designed by the Paris couturier Bernard [20] 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 Farman 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 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][21]

Awards

See also

References
  1. "Helene Dutrieu, Aviator, Is Dead. French Pioneer Flier Won Legion of Honor in 1913". Ralph Cooper. Retrieved 31 May 2008. 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 11 September 2010. 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. "Le Temps". Gallica. 10 November 1903. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  4. Beau, Jules, [Collection Jules Beau. Photographie sportive] : T. 1. Années 1894 et 1895 / Jules Beau : F. 44. Eugène Dutrieux;, retrieved 10 March 2016
  5. "Le Véloce-sport : organe de la vélocipédie française". Gallica. 12 October 1893. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  6. 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.
  7. "La Lanterne : journal politique quotidien". Gallica. 20 August 1896. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  8. "Le Véloce-sport : organe de la vélocipédie française". Gallica. 5 August 1897. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  9. "La Justice / dir. G. Clemenceau ; réd. Camille Pelletan". Gallica. 18 August 1898. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  10. "1896 London". sixday.org.uk. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  11. "L'Universel : magazine hebdomadaire illustré". Gallica. 24 September 1903. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  12. "Gil Blas / dir. A. Dumont". Gallica. 19 September 1903. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  13. "Revue universelle : recueil documentaire universel et illustré / publié sous la direction de M. Georges Moreau". Gallica. 1 January 1904. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  14. "flying The Flume". Star. 20 February 1904. p. 4. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  15. "La Semaine politique et littéraire de Paris / directeur : Jean Borghèse". Gallica. 12 January 1913. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  16. "La Presse". Gallica. 30 January 1903. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  17. Noël, Édouard (1846-1926) Auteur du texte; Stoullig, Edmond (1845-1918) Auteur du texte (1 January 1903). "Les Annales du théâtre et de la musique / Édouard Noël et Edmond Stoullig". Gallica. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  18. "La Semaine politique et littéraire de Paris / directeur : Jean Borghèse". Gallica. 12 January 1913. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  19. "Flight International Flight, 8 January 1910, p.28".
  20. Les Modes, March 1910
  21. "French Pioneer Flier Won Legion of Honor in 1913". New York Times. 28 June 1961. Retrieved 14 June 2008. Helene Dutrieu, pioneer woman aviator, died yesterday at the age of 84.
  22. "19C Female Riders". www.sixday.org.uk.
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