Élisabeth Thible, or Elizabeth Tible (, 8 March 1757 – after 1784) was a French aviator who was the first woman on record to fly in an untethered

hot air balloon A hot air balloon is a lighter-than-air aircraft consisting of a bag, called an envelope, which contains heated air. Suspended beneath is a gondola or wicker basket (in some long-distance or high-altitude balloons, a capsule), which carries ...

. She was born in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

on 8 March 1757. On 4 June 1784, eight months after the first crewed balloon flight, Thible flew with Mr. Fleurant on board a hot air balloon christened ''La Gustave'' in honour of King

Gustav III of Sweden Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...

's visit to Lyon.

Ballooning

Monsieur Fleurant originally planned to fly the balloon with Count Jean-Baptiste de Laurencin, but the count gave his position on ''The Gustave'' to Élisabeth Thible.Count Jean-Baptiste de Laurencin (1740–1812) was one of the six passengers on the traumatic flight of the

Montgolfier The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (; 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (; 6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the commune A ...

balloon ''Flesselles'' on 19 January 1784. The twelve-minute flight, piloted by

Joseph Montgolfier The Montgolfier brothers – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (; 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (; 6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) – were aviation pioneers, balloonists and paper manufacturers from the commune An ...

, had ended dramatically when the balloon started to tear and smoulder. Although all passengers were unhurt, some attributed the accident as the reason the Count de Laurencin gave Élisabeth Thible his spot. When the balloon left the ground Thible, dressed as the Roman goddess

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the R ...

, and Fleurant sang two duets from Monsigny's ''

La Belle Arsène ''La belle Arsène'' (1773) is a French opéra comique by Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny to a libretto by Charles-Simon Favart. The opera was first performed on 6 November 1773 in three acts by the ''Comédiens Italiens ordinaires du Roi'' before Loui ...

'', a celebrated opera of the time. The flight lasted 45 minutes, covered four kilometres and achieved an estimated height of 1,500 meters. It was witnessed by King

in whose honour the balloon was named. During the bumpy landing Thible turned an ankle as the basket hit the ground. She was credited by Fleurent with the success of the flight both because she fed the balloon's fire box en route and by exhibiting her remarkable courage.Gazette d’Amsterdam, 25 June 1784 and Journal des savants, November 1784, pp. 760–762

Private life

Little is known of Madame Thible; she is described as the abandoned spouse (''épouse délaissée'') of a Lyon merchant. No record of her survives as a professional opera singer. She died at some point between the completion of her hot air balloon flight and 1800.

Film

* Venus im Wolkenschiff (Venus in the Cloud-ship) –

WDR Fernsehen WDR Fernsehen is a German free-to-air television network owned and operated by Westdeutscher Rundfunk and serving North Rhine-Westphalia. It is one of the seven regional "third programmes" television stations that are offered within the federal ...

movie by A. Reeker with Anouk Plany as Élisabeth Thible

Notes

References

Other sources

* Jutta Rebmann: '' Als Frau in die Luft ging. Die Geschichte der frühen Pilotinnen'' (''Women went into the air. The history of the early pilots.'') Sieglitz. Precinct. French balloonists 18th-century French women opera singers Montgolfier brothers Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown French women aviators Women aviation pioneers {{France-bio-stub