Jan Lavezzari (January 3, 1876 – May 11, 1947
Jan Lavezzari
Mutual Art.) was a gifted painter, born in Paris, France
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...
from a well known architect: Emile Lavezzari.
Jan studied engineering and then moved to Berck-sur-Mer, northern 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 ...
in 1900, where he decided to become a professional painter instead, and settled there. Jan Lavezzari produced several oil paintings that are seemingly valuable today. He also painted murals in a few local public buildings such as 'Le Casino de la Forêt' in Touquet-Paris-Plage, the local hospital 'L'Hôpital Maritime' -built by his father- and the town hall.
Biographers record that Jan Lavezzari liked the outdoor, adventure, and that he preferred the company of fishermen, who often took him out to sea
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
. Jan Lavezzari is best known for his paintings, which generally portray sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
Types
Although sailboat terminology ...
s. His engineering education in this maritime environment probably prompted him to realize that if a sail
A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may ...
is placed horizontally, it could become a flying wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
, so on February 15, 1904, at the age of 27 years, he tested a double lateen sail hang glider
Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...
from the Berck beach sand dunes.
References
External links
*G. Dilly, Curator of the ''Musée de Berck'
https://web.archive.org/web/20080724151154/http://www2c.ac-lille.fr/jlavezzari/jan_lavezzari.htm]
*Additional art
1876 births
1947 deaths
Aviation inventors
Aviation pioneers
20th-century aviation
20th-century French painters
20th-century French male artists
French male painters
19th-century French male artists
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