Matilde E. Moisant

Matilde E. Moisant

Moisant in 1912 wearing a "good luck" swastika medallion.
Born (1878-09-13)September 13, 1878
Earl Park, Indiana, U.S.
Died February 5, 1964(1964-02-05) (aged 85)
Glendale, California, U.S.
Occupation Aviator
Parent(s) Medore Moisant
Josephine Fortier
Matilde Moisant (left) and Harriet Quimby

Matilde E. Moisant (September 13, 1878 – February 5, 1964) was an American pioneer aviator. She was the second woman in the United States to get a pilot's license.[1][2]

Early life

Moisant was born in Earl Park, Indiana to Médore Moisant and Joséphine Fortier. Both parents were French Canadians. Her siblings include George, John, Annie M., Alfred, Louisa J. and Eunice Moisant. John and Alfred were also aviators.[3] In 1880, the family was living in Manteno, Illinois and her father was working as a farmer.

Aviation career

Moisant learned to fly at Alfred's Moisant Aviation School on Long Island, New York.[3] In 1911, a few weeks after her friend Harriet Quimby received her pilot's certificate, Matilde Moisant became the second woman pilot certified by the Aero Club of America. She pursued a career in exhibition flying.[3] In September 1911, she flew in the air show at Nassau Boulevard airfield in Garden City, New York and, while competing against Hélène Dutrieu, Moisant broke the women's altitude world record and won the Rodman-Wanamaker trophy by flying to 1,200 feet (370 m).[3]

Retirement from flying

Moisant stopped flying on April 14, 1912 in Wichita Falls, Texas when her plane crashed[3] (the same day that the Titanic sank). Less than two months later, her friend Harriet Quimby was killed when she fell from her plane. Although Moisant recovered from her injuries, she gave up flying, and moved to the family plantation in San Salvador.

Death

Matilde Moisant died in 1964 in Glendale, California, aged 85, and was interred in the Portal of Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.[1]

Timeline

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Matilde Moisant, Early Fflyer, Dies". New York Times. 1964-02-07. Retrieved 2016-02-06.
  2. ↑ "Miss Moisant Wins License. Second Woman In This Country To Prove Her Ability To Fly.". New York Times. 1911-08-14. Retrieved 2008-05-31. Garden City, Long Island. August 13, 1911. With the wind eddies flattened to almost a dead calm, Miss Matilda Moisant, sister of the late John B. Moisant, who was killed at New Orleans last January, distinguished herself this morning as the second woman in this country to win a pilot's license under the rules of the Aero Club of America.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Matilde Moisant". Women in Aviation and Space History. Airandspace.si.edu (Washington, DC: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum). Retrieved 2016-02-06.

Further reading

External links

Media related to Matilde Moisant at Wikimedia Commons

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