Élisabeth Lion (1904 – 9 January 1998) was a French aviator who broke world altitude records and long-distance flying records. She was one of the five women who were selected to train as French military pilots after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Early life

Lion was born in Balan, in Ardennes, France and grew up in Sedan. In 1914 the family moved to

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...

and then to Paris. In 1934 she earned her pilot license.

Flying career

In 1936 she competed in the Douze Heure d'Angers competition. She won the women's division of the competition and finished second in the general division. In the same year she won the

Hélène Boucher Hélène Boucher (; 23 May 1908 — 30 November 1934) was a well-known France, French pilot in the early 1930s, when she set several women's world speed records and the all-comers record for 1,000 km (621 mi) in 1934. She was killed in an acciden ...

Cup in the Paris-Cannes air race. In December 1937, Lion beat the women's altitude record by reaching 6,410 meters while flying a Caudron C600 Aiglon monoplane. Days later, she also broke world records in the crew category and the 2-litre category. In March 1938, Lion completed a non-stop tour of France in 10 hours and 15 minutes and in April she completed a Paris-Tunis-Paris (3500 km) flight in 18 hours and 15 minutes. In May 1938, Lion flew a journey of 4,063 km from

Istres Istres (; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture. Location I ...

, France, to

Abadan, Iran Abadan (; ) is a city in the Central District (Abadan County), Central District of Abadan County, Khuzestan province, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. The city is in the southwest of the coun ...

, flying for 21 hours and breaking Amelia Earhart's women's distance record of 3,940 km set in 1932. Lion's record was short-lived - another French female aviator, Andrée Dupeyron, beat Lion's record by 250 km in the following days. A few weeks later, in June, Lion flew 4,250 km from Istres to

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...

, Senegal, in 21 hours and 20 minutes, in an attempt to beat Dupeyron's journey. On 29 December 1938

Guy La Chambre Guy La Chambre (5 June 1898 – 24 May 1975) was a French politician. He served as Minister of Merchant Marine in 1934 and Minister of Air from 1938 until 1940. Life Guy La Chambre was born on 5 June 1898, into a prosperous family with r ...

, the French Minister of Air, presented Lion with the rank of

Chevalier of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. In 1944-45, Charles Tillon, the newly appointed Minister of the Air decided to create the Premier corps de pilotes militaires féminins (corps of female military pilots), and invited thirteen pilots, including

Maryse Bastié Maryse Bastié (; 27 February 1898 – 6 July 1952) was a French aviator who set several international records for female aviators during the 1930s. Early life She was born Marie-Louise Bombec in Limoges, Haute-Vienne; Bastié's father died ...

, Andrée Dupeyron,

Maryse Hilsz Maryse Hilsz (7 March 1901 – 30 January 1946) was a French aviator known for high altitude and endurance flights. She served with the French Resistance during World War II and died in an air crash in 1946. Early life Marie-Antoinette Hilsz wa ...

Élisabeth Boselli Élisabeth Thérèse Marie Juliette Boselli (11 March 1914 – 25 November 2005), was a French military and civilian pilot. She was the first female fighter pilot to serve in the French Air Force, and held eight world records for distance, altitu ...

, Anne-Marie Imbrecq and Lion to train at

Châteauroux Châteauroux ( ; ; ) is the capital city of the French department of Indre, central France and the second-largest town in the province of Berry, after Bourges. Its residents are called ''Castelroussins'' () in French. Climate Châteauroux te ...

. The training flights were halted in February 1946, however, due to a fatal accident on 30 January which killed Hilsz, a mechanic, a radio operator and another flying officer.

Commemoration

In 2017, the town of

Charleville-Mézières Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France and the prefecture of the Ardennes department, in the Grand Est region. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. History Charleville and Mézières were ori ...

in Ardennes named a street in her honour.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lion, Elisabeth People from Ardennes (department) 1904 births 1998 deaths Knights of the Legion of Honour French aviation record holders French women aviation record holders 20th-century French women