1889-1919

French Aviator

In 1910, less than a decade after the Wright brothers soared into the skies at Kitty Hawk (1903), the members of the Aéro-Club de France granted a pilot's license, the first awarded to a woman, to Elise Deroche. Deroche, also known as the Baroness Raymonde de la Roche, also carried the distinction of being the first woman to fly solo. She had only a brief time in the spotlight, for she was tragically killed in 1919 when the experimental plane she was riding in as a passenger went down over the River Somme.

A plumber's daughter, Elise Deroche was born in 1889. By 1909 she had dabbled in sculpture, the theater, ballooning, and car racing and was looking for the next great thrill. She found it in the airplane when she asked Charles Voisin (1882-1912) to teach her to fly the plane he had designed and named...