Silvio Pettirossi Pereira (June 16, 1887 – October 17, 1916) was a

Paraguayan Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

airplane An airplane or aeroplane (informally plane) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is propelled forward by thrust from a jet engine, propeller, or rocket engine. Airplanes come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and wing configurations. The broad spe ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

and aviation pioneer.

Background

Born in

Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...

on June 16, 1887 to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

immigrant parents. As a young man he firstly moved to

Spoleto Spoleto (, also , , ; la, Spoletum) is an ancient city in the Italian province of Perugia in east-central Umbria on a foothill of the Apennines. It is S. of Trevi, N. of Terni, SE of Perugia; SE of Florence; and N of Rome. History Spolet ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

where he attended a military school, then to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

where he became acquainted with the aviator

Jorge Newbery Jorge Alejandro Newbery Malagarie (27 May 1875 – 1 March 1914) was an Argentine aviator, civil servant, engineer and scientist. Early and personal life His father, Ralph Lamartine Newbery Purcell (born 1848) was a dentist who emigrated from ...

who taught him how to fly.

Aviation achievements

In 1912, Pettirossi received a scholarship from the Paraguayan government and moved to

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 ...

where he obtained the title of aviator pilot from the international aeronautic federation. After receiving the title he made many important flights, one of which was a record eight-hour flight. He bought a Deperdussin model "T" monoplane with a 60 HP rotary Gnome engine. He made many famous and extraordinary acrobatic flights in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In December 1914 he founded the ''Aeroclub del Paraguay'' and served as its first president.

Death, and legacy

On October 17, 1916, while doing an inverted loop, the left wing of his plane broke, and the aircraft crashed to the ground in a ranch owned by the Castell family, in Punta Lara,

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

. Pettirossi died instantly. Asunción's

Silvio Pettirossi International Airport Silvio Pettirossi International Airport is an international airport in Luque, Paraguay, which serves Paraguay's capital city, Asunción, and indirectly serves the nearby city of Clorinda, Formosa in Argentina. The airport is named after Paraguay ...

, three football clubs, the Airborne Brigade of the Paraguayan Air Force, a Paraguayan Air Force Base in

Luque Luque () is a city in Central Department of Paraguay, part of the Gran Asunción metropolitan area. Both 1635 and 1750 have been recorded as dates of its founding. It was temporarily the capital of Paraguay in 1868 during the Paraguayan War be ...

, an avenue in Asunción, the Paraguayan Institute of Aviation History, a school, and some other places are named after him.

References

* Sapienza, Antonio Luis: ''La Contribución Italiana en la Aviación Paraguaya''. Author's edition. Asunción. 2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pettirossi, Silvio 1887 births 1916 deaths Paraguayan aviators Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Argentina Paraguayan people of Italian descent People from Asunción Aviation pioneers Aviation record holders Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1916