The Femina Cup or ''Coupe Femina'' was an award of 2000

franc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (Style of the French sovereign, King of the Franks) used on early France, ...

s established in 1910 by

Pierre Lafitte Pierre Lafitte (1770–1821) was a pirate in the Gulf of Mexico and smuggler in the early 19th century. He also ran a blacksmith shop in New Orleans, his legitimate business. Pierre was historically less well known than his younger brother, Jea ...

, the publisher of French women's magazine ''Femina'', to honour women

pilots 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 ...

. This French challenge was opened to women aviators only.

About

The Coupe Femina was awarded to the woman who, by sunset on 31 December each year, had made the longest

flight Flight or flying is the process by which an object moves through a space without contacting any planetary surface, either within an atmosphere (i.e. air flight or aviation) or through the vacuum of outer space (i.e. spaceflight). This can be a ...

, in time and distance, without landing. In 1910,

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

pilot

Hélène Dutrieu Hélène Dutrieu (10 July 1877 – 26 June 1961), was a Belgian cycling world champion, stunt cyclist, stunt motorcyclist, automobile racer, stunt driver, pioneer pilot, wartime ambulance driver, and director of a military hospital. Biograp ...

, the first winner, was lifted out of her airplane and carried on the shoulders of the spectators after she landed. It is often difficult to determine who the official winner was, since each temporary leader (e.g.

Marie Marvingt Marie Marvingt (20 February 1875 – 14 December 1963) was a French athlete, mountaineer, aviator, and journalist. She won numerous prizes for her sporting achievements including those of swimming, cycling, mountain climbing, winter sports, ballo ...

in 1911) was referred to in several contemporary records as having "won" the cup, only to be superseded by the next temporary record. Thus, in various documents, there are several "winners" recorded for each year, but the formal winners were announced in ''Femina Magazine''. It was first formally awarded to Hélène Dutrieu on 31 December 1910 for her record-breaking non-stop flight. She won it again for the second time in 1911. Note: There was also a "Coupe Femina" for women's golf, in this same period.

Winners

– 31 December 1910 for a non-stop flight of 167 kilometers in 2 hours 35 minutes * Hélène Dutrieu won the second time in 1911. * There was no Coupe Femina competition in 1912. *

Raymonde de Laroche Raymonde de Laroche (22 August 1882 – 18 July 1919) was a French pilot, thought to be the first woman to pilot a plane. She became the world's first licensed female pilot on 8 March 1910. She received the 36th aeroplane pilot's licence issue ...

– 25 November 1913 for a non-stop long-distance flight of over 4 hours duration

Events

References

{{Reflist, 30em Aviation awards Business and industry awards honoring women Awards established in 1910 Women aviators

About

Winners

Events

See also

References