Jacques Alexandre Bixio (20 November 1808 – 16 December 1865) was a French doctor, balloonist, and politician of Italian origin. Bxio was born in

Chiavari Chiavari (; lij, Ciävai ) is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, in Italy. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. It is situated near the river Entella Éntella (Greek language, Greek: ), was an ancient city in the int ...

, Italy, and published a number of works relating to agriculture. He was the first minister of agriculture and commerce for

Napoleon III of France Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...

, but is better remember as a scientific balloonist. Barral and Bixio 1850 plate - Udvar-Hazy Center

On 29 June 1850, at 10.27 A.M., Bixio and

Jean Augustin Barral Jean-Augustin Barral (31 January 1819 – 10 September 1884) was a French agronomist and balloonist. Barral was born in Metz (Moselle). He studied at a polytechnic school and became a physicist as well as a professor of chemistry and agronom ...

made the first of two balloon ascents from the

Paris Observatory The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its hist ...

in a balloon inflated with

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...

. The first turned out poorly. MM. Bixio and Barral determined to ascend again and on 27 July 1850, they repeated the experiment. The ascent was remarkable on account of the extreme cold at the elevation attained. Bixio died in Paris on 16 December 1865.

References

1902 encyclopedia entry
* William Butcher, Arthur C. (FRW) Clarke, ''Jules Verne'', Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006, page 145. . 1808 births 1865 deaths People from Chiavari French people of Italian descent Moderate Republicans (France) French Ministers of Agriculture and Commerce Members of the 1848 Constituent Assembly Members of the National Legislative Assembly of the French Second Republic French balloonists {{France-politician-stub