Francisque Arban, also known as Francesco Arban di Lione (1815 – ''disappeared'' 7 October 1849), was a French

balloonist In aeronautics, a balloon is an unpowered aerostat, which remains aloft or floats due to its buoyancy. A balloon may be free, moving with the wind, or tethered to a fixed point. It is distinct from an airship, which is a powered aerostat that ...

. In 1849, he was the first person to cross the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

in a balloon, a feat not repeated until 1924. He disappeared 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

in 1849.

Biography

Arban was born in

Lyons Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

, one of the ten children of Simon Arban, artificier. A younger brother was the cornetist

Jean-Baptiste Arban Joseph Jean-Baptiste Laurent Arban (28 February 1825 – 8 April 1889) was a cornetist, conductor, composer, pedagogue and the first famed virtuoso of the ''cornet à piston'' or valved cornet. He was influenced by Niccolò Paganini's virtuosic ...

. He made several balloon flights starting in 1832, but mostly in Italy between 1845 and 1849. He made his twelfth flight from Rome in April 1846, and he was rescued from the sea after a flight from

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

later in 1846. He is best known for his

hydrogen balloon Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all normal matter. Under standard conditions, hydrogen is a gas of diatomi ...

flight in 1849, crossing the Alps from

Marseilles Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean S ...

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. He departed from the Chateau-des-Fleurs at 6.30pm on 2 September 1849 and ascended to about over the

Massif de l'Esterel The Massif de l'Esterel (Occitan Provençal: ''Esterèu''; English: Esterel Massif) is a Mediterranean coastal mountain range in the departments of Var and Alpes-Maritimes on the French Riviera. Neighbouring cities are Mandelieu-la-Napoule and ...

. He passed

Monte Viso Monte Viso or Monviso (; ; or simply ) is the highest mountain of the Cottian Alps, located in Piedmont, Italy, close to the French border. Monte Viso is well known for its pyramid-like shape. Because it is higher than all its neighbouring peak ...

in the

Cottian Alps The Cottian Alps (; ; ) are a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps. They form the border between France (Hautes-Alpes and Savoie) and Italy (Piedmont). The Fréjus Road Tunnel and Fréjus Rail Tunnel between Modane and Susa, Ital ...

at 1:30am on 3 September, to the south of

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

, at about and landed at 2.30am on 3 September, on a farm in the village of Pion Porte, near

Stupinigi Stupinigi (; ) is a (hamlet/borough) of the (municipality) of Nichelino, in the Metropolitan City of Turin (Piedmont, north-west Italy). It has a population of about 200. It borders the of Candiolo and Orbassano on the southwestern outskirts ...

, about west of Turin.

Disappearance

He took off on a balloon flight from

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

on 7 October 1849, but his balloon was blown over the

. He disappeared without trace, and is thought to have died shortly afterwards, however many newspapers reported in November 1853, that he had allegedly survived, being captured and in slavery for two years before escaping. ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'' said, "The Spanish journals state the French aeronaut, Arban, who made an ascent from Barcelona more than two years ago, and had not since been heard of, and who was believed to have fallen into the sea and been drowned, has made his appearance again. An Alicant letter says that his balloon went over to Africa, and that he was seized and made a slave, and continued in that state for two years, when he effected his escape."

Biography

Disappearance

See also

References

External links