Armand Deperdussin (July 8, 1864 in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

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– June 11, 1924 in

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) was a French industrialist and aviation pioneer. Having established himself as a silk-broker, he became involved in the aviation industry in 1910 after witnessing the triumphs of aviator

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, founding Société de Production des Aéroplanes Deperdussin. In 1912 he bought Champagne Airfield, and built 30 workshops and other buildings, founding one of the first flying schools. He hired aircraft designer

Louis Béchereau Louis Béchereau (July 25, 1880 in Plou, Cher – March 18, 1970 in Paris) was a French aeronautical engineer and pioneer of French aviation. Biography After having attended the École nationale professionnelle in Vierzon, Béchereau went to ...

, who designed

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aircraft whose streamlined shapes achieved previously unattainable performance. With dedicated staff and revolutionary technical advances, the company won many prizes, especially the international Gordon Bennett Trophy in France in 1912 with pilot

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, who became the first pilot to fly over 100 mph [], and again in 1913 with pilot Maurice Prévost, who flew . The company went bankrupt in August 1913, and Deperdussin was disgraced in 1913 when he was accused of obtaining bank loans by fraud and forgery. He was not brought to trial until 1917, and on March 30, 1917 he was convicted of embezzling 32 million francs from his company, fined 1,000 francs, and jailed for five years The company was renamed the

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(SPAD) when it was taken over by

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in 1914. Deperdussin committed suicide in 1924.

References

1864 births 1924 suicides Businesspeople from Liège French aerospace engineers French industrialists Businesspeople from Paris Suicides by firearm in France Burials at Batignolles Cemetery 1924 deaths {{France-engineer-stub