Madeleine Charnaux by Bourdelle Madeleine Charnaux (18 January 1902 – 10 October 1943) was a French war correspondent, sculptor, designer and aviator. She was the first woman in the Roland Garros pilots’ club.

Biography

Madeleine Charnaux, born in

Vichy Vichy (, ; ) is a city in the central French department of Allier. Located on the Allier river, it is a major spa and resort town and during World War II was the capital of Vichy France. As of 2021, Vichy has a population of 25,789. Known f ...

on 18 January 1902. Her father and brothers were doctors. Initially Charnaux set out to become a sculptor and studied with

Émile-Antoine Bourdelle Antoine Bourdelle (; 30 October 1861 – 1 October 1929), born Émile Antoine Bordelles, was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important f ...

. She married the writer Pierre Frondaie on 22 September 1922 but their marriage only lasted for five years. After her marriage, Charnaux fell in love with flying after a trip to southern Italy on board a seaplane in 1930. She went on to get her pilot's licence and won the Jacques Roques Cup with over 17,000 km air travel in Africa. She traveled extensively in Africa and in 1934 was a guest of the governor of

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

and met aviator

Italo Balbo Italo Balbo (6 June 1896 – 28 June 1940) was an Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italian fascist politician and Blackshirts' leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force, Governor-General of Italian Libya and Commander-in-Chief of Italian ...

. Charnaux began flying demonstrations for Caudron-Renault. She was grounded for over a year until October 1936 due to an accident. During this time she wrote for the magazine ''L'Aéro''. Charnaux set a number of records for flying and was awarded with the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honour. In 1938, Charnaux married Jean Fontenoy who was believed to have died during the Second World War. His body was never found. The war grounded her but in September 1939 Charnaux opened a school to train women as aircraft mechanics and radio operators. She wrote a number of books. However she suffered from tuberculosis which prevailed in 1943. She died in Vichy on 11 October 1943. The funeral was held in the Saint-Louis church on October 13 and she was buried in the Cimetière des Bartins.

Bibliography

*La passion du ciel – Souvenirs d'une aviatrice, 1942, Hachette *Qui a tué Marina Sturm?, 1943, France-Empire

Records

;Altitude records *4,990m – 24 September 1934, St-Cyr school of Guer aerodrome, Madeleine Charnaux as captain and

Yvonne Jourjon Yvonne Jourjon (13 September 1899 - 4 September 1985) was a pioneering French pilot and flight instructor. She was the first woman flight instructor in France. Early life Yvonne Albine Jourjon was born in Besançon on 13 September 1889. In 192 ...

as co-pilot *6,150m – 29 January 1935, in Orly, Madeleine Charnaux as captain and Edith Clark as co-pilot ;Speed record *283.24 km/h – 8 May 1937, from Ville Sauvage to La Marmogne route, with the Caudron Rafale C-530 with Renault engine Bengali. *268.64 km/h – 17 October 1937, Women's record.

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charnaux, Madeleine 1902 births 1943 deaths People from Vichy French women aviators French collaborators with Nazi Germany 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in France