André Dubonnet (28 June 1897 – 20 January 1980) was a French

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

, athlete, race car driver, and inventor. He was the grandson of Joseph Dubonnet, founder of the

Dubonnet Dubonnet (, , ) is a sweet, aromatised wine-based quinquina, often enjoyed as an aperitif. It is a blend of fortified wine, herbs, and spices (including a small amount of quinine), with fermentation being stopped by the addition of alcohol. ...

apéritif firm, from which he inherited substantial wealth.

Early life and military service

Dubonnet was born in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

on 28 June 1897.''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'', pp. 155 - 156 He began his military service as an

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

man, but switched to

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

. He was credited with six aerial victories as a pilot during World War I. Flying a

SPAD XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Béc ...

, he shared two out of his three May 1918 victories with Frank Baylies, teamed up with Fernand Henri Chavannes to destroy an observation balloon on 13 June, and split a pair of wins on 16 August 1918 with Joseph de Sevin and Captain Battle.The Aerodrome websit

Retrieved on 2 May 2010.

Between the world wars

In December 1922, Dubonnet married Claude Sampieri, daughter of Count Charles Sampieri and of Portrait of Irene Cahen d'Anvers, Irène Cahen d'Anvers, whose father was the banker

Louis Cahen d'Anvers Count Louis Raphaël Cahen d'Anvers (24 May 1837 – 20 December 1922) was a French banker. Born in 1837 as the son of Meyer Joseph Cahen d'Anvers and Clara Bischoffsheim (1810-1876), he was a scion of two wealthy Jewish banking families. He m ...

. Together, they had two daughters, France and Lorraine. Hispano-SuizaH6CXenia

During the 1920s, Dubonnet competed in Olympic bobsledding, as well as racing cars for

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French manufacturer of high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the Italian-born industrial designer Ettore Bugatti. The cars w ...

and

Hispano-Suiza Hispano-Suiza () is a Spanish automotive–engineering company. It was founded in 1904 by Marc Birkigt and Damian Mateu as an automobile manufacturer and eventually had several factories in Spain and France that produced luxury cars, aircraft en ...

. He later spent much of his fortune developing inventions. He successfully sold an automobile suspension system ( ''système Dubonnet'') to

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

, but nearly went bankrupt late in life while working on

solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essenti ...

. He also developed several aerodynamic studies and commissioned some special aerodynamic cars to be built for him. In 1932, Dubonnet married Xenia Howard-Johnston, who died not long afterward. He met his third wife, the American Ruth Obre, during his dealings with GM’s Alfred P. Sloan, who was famed for his visions of the automaker’s incremental product levels and planned obsolescence. Both women figured in Dubonnet’s continuing tale. Dubonnet became a Chevalier of the

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

in January 1936.

World War II and beyond

He returned to service during World War II, serving in GCI/2. André Dubonnet died on 20 January 1980 in Paris.

Sources of information

References

* ''SPAD XII/XIII aces of World War I.'' Jon Guttman. Osprey Publishing, 2002. , 9781841763163. * Franks, Norman; Bailey, Frank (1993). ''Over the Front: The Complete Record of the Fighter Aces and Units of the United States and French Air Services, 1914–1918'' London, UK: Grub Street Publishing. .

External links

Biography, list of aerial victories, color profiles of his planes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Bonnet 1890s births 1980 deaths French World War I flying aces French male bobsledders Olympic bobsledders of France Bobsledders at the 1928 Winter Olympics Grand Prix drivers