The ''Zénith'' () was a

hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol H and atomic number 1. It is the lightest and abundance of the chemical elements, most abundant chemical element in the universe, constituting about 75% of all baryon, normal matter ...

gas balloon A gas balloon is a balloon that rises and floats in the air because it is filled with a gas lighter than air (such as helium or hydrogen). When not in flight, it is tethered to prevent it from flying away and is sealed at the bottom to prevent t ...

of , designed by French

aeronaut Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

and navy officer

Théodore Sivel Théodore Sivel (10 November 1833 – 15 April 1875) was a French navy officer and aeronaut. He designed and died on the gas balloon Zénith (balloon), ''Zénith''. Biography Théodore Henri Sivel was the son of Alexandre Sivel and Caroline B ...

, funded by the French Air Navigation Company () and built in 1874. The balloon set records before causing the first deaths of aeronauts due to altitude on April 15, 1875.

Construction

Designed by Sivel, the ''Zénith'' was assembled and sewn at Pignet, Sivel's family estate, with the help of women from Sauve in the

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;

Success of the Paris–Arcachon flight

On March 23 and 24, 1875, under the guidance of

Paul Bert Paul Bert (17 October 1833 – 11 November 1886) was a French zoologist, physiologist and politician. He is sometimes given the nickname "Father of Aviation Medicine". Life Bert was born at Auxerre ( Yonne). He studied law, earning a doctorate ...

, the commander Sivel, engineer

Joseph Crocé-Spinelli Joseph Crocé-Spinelli (; 10 July 1845 – 15 April 1875) was a French engineer, aeronaut and inventor, one of the pioneers of aviation. Along with Gaston Tissandier and Théodore Sivel, he achieved a record altitude of in the gas balloon ''Zén ...

, aeronauts Albert Tissandier, his brother

Gaston Tissandier Gaston Tissandier (November 21, 1843 – August 30, 1899) was a French chemist, meteorologist, aviator, and editor. He founded and edited the scientific magazine ''La Nature'' and wrote several books. His brother was illustrator Albert Tissan ...

, editor-in-chief of the journal ''

La Nature ''La Nature'' (English: ''Nature'') was a French language magazine aimed at the popularization of science established in 1873 by French scientist and adventurer Gaston Tissandier. The magazine also received an enormous amount of time, effort, ...

'', and Claude Jobert achieved a long-duration flight (22 h 40), breaking all duration records.. The balloon took off at 18:20 from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and landed the next day at 17:00 in

Arcachon Arcachon (; ) is a commune in the southwestern French department of Gironde. It is a popular seaside resort on the Atlantic coast southwest of Bordeaux, in the Landes forest. It has a sandy beach and a mild climate said to be favourable for p ...

. Departing from the gas plant of

La Villette, Seine La Villette () was a French commune (municipality) in the Seine ''département'' lying immediately north-east of Paris. It was one of four communes entirely annexed by the city of Paris in 1859. Its territory is now located in the 19th arrondis ...

(present-day 159 , Paris), the landing took place in the commune of Lanton in the

Gironde Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749.

department. This flight led to numerous scientific observations, notably by Crocé-Spinelli in charge of spectroscopic observations, the Tissandier brothers studying the chemical composition of the air at high altitude, measuring the proportions of gases and water vapor in rarefied air, Sivel managing the balloon and assisting in his companions' experiments.

Ciron tragedy

Course of events

After the balloon ''Zénith'' was inflated under the supervision of Adrien Duté-Poitevin, who was Sivel's brother-in-law, three aeronauts—Sivel, Crocé-Spinelli, and Gaston Tissandier—took off near the gas plant of La Villette, located in the

19th arrondissement of Paris The 19th arrondissement of Paris (''XIXe arrondissement'') is one of the 20 arrondissements of the capital city of France. In spoken French, this arrondissement is referred to as ''dix-neuvième''. The arrondissement, known as Butte-Chaumont, ...

, on April 15, 1875, at 11:35, hoping to break the altitude record ( at the time) and conduct observations. Despite feeling unwell at altitude, the three aeronauts decided to continue their ascent. Recorders showed that the flight reached . They all lost consciousness due to lack of oxygen ( hypoxia). Only Tissandier managed to regain consciousness to slow the descent, and the balloon landed violently sometime after noon, tearing against a tree but with little damage to the basket, in the territory of Ciron (Indre) near

Le Blanc Le Blanc (; ; ) is a commune and a subprefecture of the department of Indre, and the region of Centre-Val de Loire, central France. Geography Le Blanc is the main city of the Parc naturel régional de la Brenne, on the banks of the river Cr ...

, from Paris, at 16:00. He alone survived – though he lost his hearing – and described his adventure and that of his companions in ''

'' on May 1, 1875, and in ''L'Aéronaute'' the following month. The tragedy was deemed unpreventable, as the effects of an altitude higher than were unknown to the crew. Only the adventure of British aeronaut

James Glaisher James Glaisher Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (7 April 1809 – 7 February 1903) was an English meteorologist, aeronaut and astronomer. Biography Born in Rotherhithe, the son of a London watchmaker, Glaisher was a junior assistant at the C ...

in 1862 could have given them any indication of high altitude conditions, but Glaisher had had training that allowed him to survive his flight. The ''Zénith'' did carry an emergency air supply consisting of three small rubber balloons containing 70 percent oxygen, but these were capable of sustaining breathing for an hour at most.

wrote to the crew to warn them of the need to carry a larger oxygen supply, but his letter did not reach them in time. The rapid ascent of the ''Zénith'' was also a significant factor in the incident. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Gaston Tissandier's publisher Maurice Dreyfous wrote that the aeronaut had revealed certain details to him about the ''Zénith'' incident that he had previously hidden from the public. He said it was Sivel, and not Crocé-Spinelli, who was responsible for the sudden and deadly ascent of the balloon. He was supposed to constantly monitor the balloon's altitude with the barometer, but was a victim of his myopia and believed that the aerostat was about to touch the ground. He then threw overboard everything within his reach. In all drawings of the incident, the actual shape of the ''Zénith'' basket was replaced by a square basket of less crude and more advantageous construction.

Impact and tributes

The announcement of this incident had an impact in France and abroad, and more than twenty thousand people followed the funerals of Sivel and Crocé-Spinelli from the

Orléans station Orléans station ( French: ''Gare d'Orléans'') is a railway station serving the city Orléans, Loiret department, central France. It is situated on the Paris–Bordeaux railway. The Gare d'Orléans is a terminus station, and therefore TGV and ...

to the

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

in Paris.

Monument

A public subscription was opened by the Société française de navigation aérienne to help the families of the victims and to erect a commemorative monument at the landing site of the balloon. It was designed by the architect Albert Tissandier (brother of Gaston Tissandier) and took the form of an

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

in stone surrounded by a railing, on Rue de Eglise Saint-Georges in Ciron. Inaugurated on March 25, 1881, it was later listed as an

historic monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

by decree on April 4, 2017.

Performance halls

French performance halls named Zénith owe their name to this balloon. In 1981, Jack Lang, then

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

, decided to create a large-capacity hall located outside cities, suitable for rock and popular music, and inaugurated the concept "Le Zénith" with the Zénith de Paris to replace the

Pavillon de Paris The Pavillon de Paris () was a large concert space in Paris, France, located near the Porte de Pantin Métro stop, on the northern edge of the city. With a seating capacity of approximately 10,000 spectators, the Pavillon was the city's largest in ...

. The first hall built was located in the

Parc de la Villette The Parc de la Villette () is the third-largest park in Paris, in area, located at the northeastern edge of the city in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, 19th arrondissement. The park houses one of the largest concentrations of cultural venues ...

at the take-off site, with the Minister of Culture being inspired by this feat to name the structure.

Tomb

The remains of Joseph Crocé-Spinelli and Théodore Sivel were placed in a single tomb topped by their recumbent effigies lying on their backs, side by side with their hands intertwined. This ensemble, located in the

in Paris (71st division), is an 1878 work of artist Alphonse Dumilatre..

Historical scene and music

Musical scores (voice and instrument) for the theater were published shortly after the incident, such as those entitled ''Le Zénith'' (lyrics by Adolphe Perreau, music by

Robert Planquette Jean Robert Planquette (; 31 July 1848 – 28 January 1903) was a French composer of songs and operettas. Several of Planquette's operettas were extraordinarily successful in Britain, especially ''Les cloches de Corneville'' (1878), the length o ...

) or ''Les martyrs du Zénith,'' historical scene (lyrics by Julien Fauque, music by Jules Jacob), which remained on sale until 1901.

Poem

This ascent and the resulting tragedy inspired a poem, named ''Le Zénith,'' by the French

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and future first Nobel Prize in Literature winner

Sully Prudhomme René François Armand "Sully" Prudhomme (; 16 March 1839 – 6 September 1907) was a French poet and essayist. He was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1901. Born in Paris, Prudhomme originally studied to be an engineer, bu ...

References

Bibliography

External links

Martyrs made in the sky: the ''Zénith'' balloon tragedy and the construction of the French Third Republic's first scientific heroes
by Patrick Luiz Sullivan De Oliveira
Article on the record flight in ''La Nature''

Complete article on the record flight in ''La Nature''

The long-duration ascent of the balloon «Zénith»

, ''

'' n° 97 - April 10, 1875
Article on the disaster in ''La Nature''
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in France before 1950 19th-century French experimental aircraft 1875 in France Aviation accidents and incidents in France