Jean Marie Le Bris (March 25, 1817,

Concarneau Concarneau (, meaning ''Bay of Cornouaille'') is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Concarneau is bordered to the west by the Baie de La Forêt. The town has two distinct areas: the modern town on the main ...

– February 17, 1872,

Douarnenez Douarnenez (, ; meaning ''douar'' (land) ''an enez'' (the island) or land of the island), is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, northwestern France. It is located at the mouth of the Pouldavid River, an estuary ...

) was a French

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

, born in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

who built two glider aircraft and performed at least one flight on board of his first machine in late 1856. His name () is sometimes spelled Jean-Marie Le Bris, and he is also known as Yann Vari Ar Briz () in

Breton language Breton (, ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of t ...

Early life

Jean Marie Le Bris was born in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on March 25, 1817 at 5AM local time. He was the third child of Michel Marie Le Bris, boat captain, and Perrine Rosalie Le Bris née Riou. Jean Marie Le Bris married Jeanne Louise Alexandrine Kerisit in Pont-Croix on February 18, 1844. After Jeanne Louise passed away in March 1854, he remarried with Ernestine Esprit Hervé on November 20, 1854.

Life at sea

A sailor and sea captain, Le Bris sailed around the world observing the flight of the

albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacifi ...

. Although he sailed around the world, his true ambition was to fly. During his trips, especially the navigation of the

Cape Horn Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramírez ...

in 1839, he observed sea birds and captured an albatross to investigate the flight mechanics of birds and to understand the interaction between the wings and the air.

First glider aircraft: the Winged Boat

Le Bris built two different gliders. The first one, sometimes nicknamed ''La barque ailée'' ("The Winged Boat"), is the subject of its patent No. 31166 of March 9, 1857 on an "aerial car". In late 1856, Jean Marie Le Bris flew briefly with this aircraft on the beach of Sainte-Anne-la-Palud ( Plonévez-Porzay,

), nearby Tréfeuntec in the Douarnenez Bay. The aircraft was placed on and tethered to a cart towed by a horse. He thus flew higher than his point of departure, a first for heavier-than-air flying machines, reportedly to a height of 100 m (330 ft), for a distance of 200 m (660 ft). During an unsuccessful second trial in March 1857, the glider was launched from the top of the Tréboul mill and crashed. The plane was damaged beyond repair and Jean Marie Le Bris broke a leg.

Second glider aircraft: the Albatross

In 1868, with the support of the Imperial

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

, he built a second flying machine, called ''L'Albatros'', which was tried in

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress *Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria *Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France **Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Brest, ...

at the artillery polygon of Saint Pierre Quilbignon. According to De La Landelle, the aircraft made a few flights, including a 200-m long glide, before being damaged beyond repair after a crash. Compared to its first glider, it was a very different machine. The wings could not move, but the glider was equipped with a mechanical flight control system that could warp the wings along their entire span. The tail was maneuverable as well. Also, this second plane was structurally different than the first one. The Albatross became the first aircraft to be photographed, in 1868 by Pépin fils, photographer based in Siam street, Brest. Two originals of these pictures are preserved by the

Musée Carnavalet The Musée Carnavalet in Paris is dedicated to the history of the city. The museum occupies two neighboring mansions: the Hôtel Carnavalet and the former Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint Fargeau. On the advice of Baron Haussmann, the civil servant wh ...

in Paris (Ref. 1992 CAR0961A) and the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace in Le Bourget, France. The first well-documented glider was built by

George Cayley Sir George Cayley, 6th Baronet (27 December 1773 – 15 December 1857) was an English engineer, inventor, and aviator. He is one of the most important people in the history of aeronautics. Many consider him to be the first true scientific aeri ...

and flown by an employee in 1853. Also in Great Britain, Stringfellow had built small unmanned gliders in 1848. However Le Bris invented more effective flight controls, which could act on the incidence of wings and which were patented in March 1857.

Late life

In March 1868, Jean Marie Le Bris learned of the death of his son, during his military service, onboard of the frigate ''La Magicienne'' sailing nearby

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Shortly after, he decided to assert his right to retire and get his pension. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Le Bris volunteered to fight against the Prussian Army. He ended at

Camp Conlie Camp Conlie was one of eleven military camps established by the Republican Government of National Defense under Léon Gambetta during the Franco-Prussian war. It became notable because of events which have led to its being described as a "concentr ...

and, realizing the fate of the Army of Brittany, got transferred as a

franc-tireur (, French for "free shooters") were irregular military formations deployed by France during the early stages of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). The term was revived and used by partisans to name two major French Resistance movements se ...

. He took part in the combats in Western France: the

battle of Le Mans The Battle of Le Mans was a German victory during the Franco-Prussian War that ended French resistance in western France. Background After capturing the armies of the French Empire at Sedan and Metz in the fall of 1870, the German armies un ...

, and the subsequent fights in

Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the ''Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It had ...

and

Mayenne Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ille-et ...

. After the

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the La ...

, Le Bris was demobilized and he went back home in Douarnenez. In 1871, Jean Marie Le Bris was appointed law enforcement officer (''agent de police'') by the mayor of Douarnenez. On September 7, 1871, Le Bris and fellow policeman Yves Corentin Larhant intervene at a ball to stop a fight between two guests. Le Bris is injured in the process. According to his daughter Julie, he will never recover from this aggression, with his physical health declining over time. Le Bris died in his home of

, on February 17, 1872.

In popular culture

Aviation education and preservation

* The Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace in Le Bourget, France hosts a replica of the Winged Boat (''Barque ailée'') in the Air Pioneers Hall. * The Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center, part of the

Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio that commemorates three important historical figures— Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright, and poet Paul Laurence Dunbar—and the ...

in Dayton, OH, mentions the work of Jean Marie Le Bris in its exhibition on aviation pioneers.

Dedications

* The school-city (''cité scolaire'' that brings together a ''collège'' and a ''lycée'') of

and the aviation club of Quimper are named after the aviator. * A stele was dedicated in the village of Tréfeuntec, Plonévez-Porzay where the Jean Marie Le Bris street ends right before the mouth of the stream Lapic. * Jean Marie Le Bris is buried in the Douarnenez-Ploaré Cemetery, rue Laennec,

in Section B, Stone No. 2.

In arts

* Jean Marie Le Bris is one of the main characters of the 1878 novel ''Les grandes amours'' by Guillaume Joseph Gabriel de La Landelle. The book was written by the author as a fiction inspired by the life and work of Le Bris. * The play The Albatross (''An Albatroz'' is the original title in Breton) was created based on Le Bris' story by storyteller Lukaz Nedeleg and accordionist Youen Bodros. It was produced by the performing art group Strollad La Obra in both French and Breton, and was played for the first time in June 2021 in Landerneau,

.À Landerneau,l’histoire de Jean-Marie Le Bris, pionnier de l’aviation, au Family le 1er juin
Le Télégramme of May 21, 2021. Accessed on May 24, 2021.

Notes

Bibliography

* Chanute, Octave ''Progress in Flying Machines''. The American Engineer and Railroad Journal. 47 Cedar Street, New York, 1894, 1899 * De La Landelle, Gabriel. ''Les grandes amours''. Dentu, Paris, 1878 * Decoop, Gaston. ''Un grand précurseur breton 1817/1872 : Jean-Marie Le Bris''. Icare, 1968 * Gibbs-Smith, C.H. ''Aviation: An Historical Survey''. London, NMSI, 2008. * Opdycke, Leonard E. ''French Aeroplanes Before the Great War'' Atglen, PA: Schiffer, 1999. * Peslin, Charles-Yves. ''Jean Marie Le Bris. Marin breton précurseur de l'aviation''. Journal Les Ailes, Société d'éditions aéronautiques. Paris, 1944 * Lacan, Guy et al. ''Jean-Marie Le Bris: précurseur de l'aéronautique''. Icare No. 192. Roissy-en-France, 2005.

External links

Biography
on flyingmachines.org.
Machine reconstruction with design analysis, website of the Jean-Marie Le Bris Association''Un pionnier de l'aviation : Jean-Marie Le Bris''
an article by Florian Le Roy in the newspaper L'Ouest-Éclair of June 8, 1944. {{DEFAULTSORT:Le Bris, Jean-Marie 1817 births 1872 deaths 19th-century French inventors Aviation pioneers Brittany French aviators French glider pilots People from Brittany People from Concarneau