Henri Guillaumet (29 May 1902 – 27 November 1940) was a French aviator. Guillaumet was born in

Bouy Bouy () is a commune of the Marne department in northeastern France. Population International relations Bouy is twinned with the English village of Everton in Nottinghamshire, UK. left, tribute to Henri Guillaumet. See also *Commune ...

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

. He was a pioneer of French aviation in the

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

, the South

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and the North Atlantic. He contributed to the opening up of numerous new routes and is regarded by some as the best pilot of his age. "''Je n'en ai pas connu de plus grand''" (I've never known a greater one), said

Didier Daurat Didier Daurat (2 January 1891, Montreuil-sous-Bois – 2 December 1969, Toulouse) was a pioneer of French aviation. He was a fighter pilot during World War I, distinguishing himself by spotting the Paris Gun which was pounding Paris. After th ...

, operations director of the Aéropostale. Guillaumet carried the mail between Argentina and Chile. On Friday 13 June 1930, while crossing the Andes for the 92nd time, he crashed his Potez 25 at Laguna del Diamante in Mendoza, Argentina, because of bad weathe

He walked for a week over three mountain passes. Though tempted to give up, he persisted while thinking of his wife, Noëlle, until June 19 at dawn when he was rescued by a 14-year-old boy named Juan García. He reached a village whose inhabitants could not believe his story. This exploit made him stand out among the 'stars' of Aéropostale. To his friend Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who had come to find him, he said, "''Ce que j'ai fait, je te le jure, aucune bête ne l'aurait fait''." (What I have done, I swear to you, no animal would have done.) Saint-Exupéry tells the adventure of Guillaumet in his 1939 book ''Terre des hommes'' (published in English as ''

Wind, Sand and Stars ''Wind, Sand and Stars'' (French title: ''Terre des hommes'', literally "Land of Men") is a memoir by the French aristocrat aviator-writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and a winner of several literary awards. It was first published in France in ...

). After a number of south Atlantic crossings, he was appointed managing director of

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...

. On 27 November 1940, while flying to Syria with

Jean Chiappe Jean Baptiste Pascal Eugène Chiappe (3 May 1878 – 27 November 1940) was a high-ranking French civil servant. Chiappe was director of the ''Sûreté générale'' in the 1920s. He was subsequently given the post of Préfet de police in the 19 ...

, the new French High Commissioner to the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

, his four-engined

Farman F.220 The Farman F.220 and its derivatives were thick-sectioned, high-winged, four engined monoplanes from Farman Aviation Works. Based on the push-pull configuration proven by the F.211, design started in August 1925 and the first flight of the prot ...

NC.2234 airliner ''Le Verrier'' was shot down by an Italian fighter over the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

In popular culture

Film

The 1995 docudrama '' Wings of Courage'' by French director Jean-Jacques Annaud was an account of early airmail pilots including Henri_Guillaumet_(played_by_Craig_Sheffer),_Saint-Exupéry_played_by_Tom_Hulce.html" ;"title="Craig_Sheffer.html" ;"title="Henri Guillaumet (played by Craig Sheffer">Henri Guillaumet (played by Craig Sheffer), Saint-Exupéry played by Tom Hulce">Craig_Sheffer.html" ;"title="Henri Guillaumet (played by Craig Sheffer">Henri Guillaumet (played by Craig Sheffer), Saint-Exupéry played by Tom Hulce. The movie was the world's first dramatic picture shot in the IMAX-format

Literature

Guillaumet was a major character in Antonio Iturbe’s 2017 Spanish language novel ''A cielo abierto'' which was translated into English and published in 2021 with the title ''The Prince of the Skies''.

External links

Biography of Henri Guillaumet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guillaumet, Henri 1902 births 1940 deaths People from Marne (department) French aviators Aviators killed by being shot down French civilians killed in World War II