Lowell Yerex (24 July 1895 – 1968) was born in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and attended

Valparaiso University Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana, United States. It is an independent Lutheran university with five colleges. It enrolls nearly 2,300 students and has a campus. The university is known for its Luthe ...

Valparaiso, Indiana Valparaiso ( ), colloquially Valpo, is a city in and the county seat of Porter County, Indiana, United States. The population was 34,151 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Chicago metropolitan area. History The site of present-day Valparaiso ...

, United States. He graduated from

in 1916. He volunteered for the British

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

in 1917, was shot down over France and spent four months in a German prisoner-of-war camp. In 1931, he founded Transportes Aéreos Centro Americanos (TACA), but was forced out at the end of 1945. He went on to found British West Indian Airways in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

in 1940, at the invitation of Lady Young, wife of Trinidad and Tobago's new governor Sir Hubert Winthrop Young. In 1941, he founded Aerovias Brasil in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. After several mergers and acquisitions, the successor companies were eventually acquired by

VARIG VARIG (''Viação Aérea Rio-Grandense'', 'Rio Grandean Airways') was the first airline founded in Brazil, in 1927. From 1965 until 1990, it was Brazil's leading airline and virtually its only international one. In 2005, Varig went into judici ...

in 1961. He was born in Wellington, New Zealand and died in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

References

*''Yerex of TACA: A Kiwi Conquistador'' (1985, Ampersand, New Zealand) by David Yerex (nephew) *''Aviator of Fortune: Lowell Yerex and the Anglo-American Commercial Rivalry 1931-1946'' by Eric Benson (2006, Texas A&M University Press)

External links

Yerex ousted from TACA (Time, 1945)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yerex, Lowell 1895 births 1968 deaths Businesspeople in aviation Valparaiso University alumni Royal Flying Corps officers World War I prisoners of war held by Germany British Army personnel of World War I 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople New Zealand prisoners of war in World War I New Zealand emigrants to the United States