View source for Jean Mermoz

{{Short description|French aviator}}
{{Infobox person
| name              = Jean Mermoz
| image             = Jean Mermoz 1935.jpg
| caption           = Jean Mermoz, 1935
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1901|12|9|df=yes}} 
| birth_place       = [[Aubenton]], [[Aisne]], France
| disappeared_date  = {{death date and age|1936|12|7|1901|12|9|df=yes}} 
| disappeared_place = [[Atlantic Ocean]], en route to [[Natal, Brazil|Natal]] from [[Dakar]]
| nationality       = French
| occupation        = [[Aviator]]
| known_for         = 
}}
'''Jean Mermoz''' (9 December 1901 – 7 December 1936) was a [[French people|French]] [[aviator]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/courrier2/cciel5de.html|title=Biography of Jean Mermoz|website=www.historymuseum.ca|access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.argentina-excepcion.com/guide-voyage/aeropostale/accident-jean-mermoz|title=L'accident de Jean Mermoz dans les Andes|website=www.argentina-excepcion.com|date=19 July 2014 |access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref> viewed as a hero by other pilots such as [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.retronews.fr/sports-et-loisirs/echo-de-presse/2019/04/28/jean-mermoz-aviation|title=Jean Mermoz, légende de l'aviation et militant des Croix-de-Feu|date=2019-04-28|website=RetroNews - Le site de presse de la BnF|language=fr|access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref> and in his native [[France]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/histoire/archives/2016/12/06/26010-20161206ARTFIG00298-mermoz-pilote-de-legende-de-l-aeropostale-disparait-le-7-decembre-1936.php|title=Mermoz, pilote de légende de l'Aéropostale, disparaît le 7 décembre 1936|last1=Bonniel|first1=Marie-Aude|date=2016-12-06|website=Le Figaro.fr|language=fr|access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref> where many schools bear his name.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sps-aviation.com/story/?id=726|title=Jean Mermoz (1901 - 1936)|website=www.sps-aviation.com|language=en|access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref> In [[Brazil]], he also is recognized as a pioneer aviator.

==Career==
In 1920 he met Max Delby, a teacher who helped him develop his career, and in April 1921 he flew as a pilot for the first time.

===French Air Force===
Mermoz joined the [[French Air Force]] in 1922, being assigned, as a pilot of the air force's 11th regiment, to duty in [[Syria]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.historynet.com/triumphs-and-ultimate-tragedy-of-the-french-lindbergh.htm|title=Triumphs and Ultimate Tragedy of the French Lindbergh|last=Bernier|first=Robert|date=2019-08-16|website=HistoryNet|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref> In 1924, he returned to France, having arguably been one of the most successful pilots in the Syrian operations. Mermoz relocated to [[Toulouse]].

===Latécoère===
[[File:Couzinet Arc-en-Ciel.jpg|thumb|The [[Couzinet 70]], "Arc-en-Ciel", F-AMBV, flown by Mermoz]]

Mermoz went on to become an [[airmail]] pilot,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/world/1597662/100-years-ago-airmail-took-flight|title=100 years ago, airmail took flight|date=2018-12-20|website=Bangkok Post|access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref> with [[Groupe Latécoère]], and almost failed his entry exam by performing dangerous stunts to impress the director. (The director, [[Didier Daurat]] had this famous quote: "We don't need acrobats here, we need bus drivers.") He then did a normal, flawless flight and was hired. It was there that Mermoz met [[Antoine de Saint-Exupéry]]. At the [[Compagnie Générale Aéropostale]], Mermoz travelled to [[Morocco]], [[Senegal]] and other [[Africa]]n areas.

In 1926, one of Mermoz's flights ended with an accident, when his plane crashed in the [[Sahara]]. He was then taken hostage by a group of rebel [[Tuareg people|Tuaregs]], but was fortunately found later alive.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/10-great-pilots-4026745/|title=10 All-Time Great Pilots|website=Air & Space Magazine|language=en|access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref>

[[File:Late01.jpg|thumb|A Latécoère 25 in the [[Museo Nacional de Aeronáutica de Argentina]], in the livery of [[Aeroposta Argentina]]]]

In 1927, [[Pierre-Georges Latécoère|Latécoère]] began building planes of his own design to replace the aging World War I aircraft [[Breguet 14]]. The [[Latécoère 25]], (or "Laté 25") and, later, the [[Latécoère 26]] and [[Latécoère 28]] proved to be efficient aircraft when flying from Morocco to Senegal, and Mermoz himself flew the types on those routes on multiple occasions.

But Africa was only the beginning. Latécoère's project was to create a direct airline between France and [[South America]]. By 1929, it had become evident that it would be economically viable for France to establish a commercial air route to South America, so Mermoz and others flew over the [[Andes]]. Despite Mermoz finding the flying conditions over the Andes to be tough, he became the project's main pilot, determined to reach the [[Pacific Ocean]], and he was able, after multiple stops, to reach [[Santiago, Chile]]. During that time, to save time, he decided to fly during the night, using light beacons and flares as guides; and his fellow pilots, for once, were a bit reluctant to see him do it, because they knew it would be their turn next.
For some time, as [[transatlantic flight]]s were not yet possible, [[steamboat]]s linked both halves of the "Line".

[[File:Victor Etienne Mermoz Guillaumet Rio de Janeiro.jpg|thumb|Mermoz, between [[Victor Etienne]] and [[Henri Guillaumet|Guillaumet]]; Río de Janeiro.]]
With a flight from [[Saint-Louis, Senegal]], to [[Natal, Brazil]], on 12–13 May 1930, the line was complete at last. the modified Laté 28 "Comte-de-la-Vaulx", however, did not prove reliable, and the pilot had to ditch at sea during the return flight. Mermoz, his two companions and the mail were rescued, but the plane sank during the attempt to tow it.

===Air France===
In 1933, Mermoz was appointed general inspector by [[Air France]]. That same year, he arrived in [[Buenos Aires]], [[Argentina]], where he and Saint-Exupéry became important persons during the infancy of [[Aeroposta Argentina]], which would later become [[Aerolíneas Argentinas]]. Mermoz and Saint-Exupéry flew many dangerous flights for the then new air company. They became regarded as two of the most important men in the history of Argentine commercial aviation. From 1934 to 1936, Mermoz would fly private expeditions on [[Latécoère 300]] airplanes. He flew 24 expeditions with that type. In 1935, he also flew [[de Havilland DH.88]] "Comet" airplanes.

==Disappearance at sea==
[[File:Latécoere 300 Croix-du-Sud.jpg|thumb|Latécoère 300 ''Croix-du-Sud'']]

On 7 December 1936, on a planned flight from [[Dakar]] to [[Natal, Brazil]], he turned back shortly after take-off to report a troublesome engine on his [[Latécoère 300]] ''Croix-du-Sud'' (''[[Southern Cross]]'').<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://aerostories.free.fr/pilotes/france/mermoz/|title=Jean Mermoz : une biographie illustrée du "Grand".|website=aerostories.free.fr|access-date=2019-12-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/5429539/Air-France-crash-mystery-of-plane-disappearances.html|title=Air France crash: mystery of plane disappearances|last=Simpson|first=Aislinn|journal=Daily Telegraph |date=2009-06-02|access-date=2019-12-09|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> After learning that he would have to wait for another one to be prepared, he took off again in the same plane after a quick repair, concerned that he would be late in delivering the mail. (His last words before boarding the plane were "Quick, let's not waste time anymore.")

Four hours later, the radio station received a short message, where Mermoz reported that he had to cut the power on the aft starboard engine. The message was interrupted abruptly. No further messages were received, and [[List of aerial disappearances|neither the Laté 300 nor the crew were ever recovered]].

It is assumed that the engine they had tried to repair lost its propeller midflight, and being one of the aft engines, the loose propeller either badly damaged or cut the hull entirely, causing the plane to lose its tail and crash instantly. [[Henri Guillaumet]], one of Mermoz's fellow pilots, had encountered the same problem a few months before, but as his own engine was on the forward side, airspeed had been sufficient to maintain the propeller in place until the landing.

== Sabotage of the "Southern Cross" ==
In 1941, the Investigative Commission of Anti-National Activities of the Parliament of Uruguay, after denunciations filed before the Deputy Tomas Brena and Julio Iturbide, claimed that the last two airmail flights of Air France, and with result the death of Collenot first and Mermoz later, had been sabotaged by Nazi Fifth Columnists of the National German Socialist Workers Party operating in Uruguay. The air mail bags transported the technical and economic proposals for the bidding of the so-called Obra del Río Negro in Uruguay, the international tender carried out in three calls in 1936, for the construction of the Rincón del Bonete hydroelectric plant. The tender only received Offers or proposals from the Siemens Bauunion and [[Philipp Holzmann AG]] consortium in Germany, and SKODA WORKS from [[Czechoslovakia]]. This and other tricks, such as false news and bribes, were used by Nazi Germany to get rid of the other proposals under way, and force the bidding to be declared void.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Nazi Underground in South America|author=Hugo Fernández Artucio|author-link=Hugo Fernández Artucio|year= 1942}}</ref>

The crew of Latécoère 300 ''Croix-du-Sud'', F-AKGF, on that day were:
*Jean Mermoz, Pilot
*[[Alexandre Pichodou]], Copilot
*[[Henri Ezan]], Navigator
*[[Edgar Cruveilher]], Radio Officer
*[[Jean Lavidalie]], Mechanic

===An unreliable plane===
Mermoz had grown dissatisfied with the quality of the planes he and his companions had to pilot. In the months before his demise, he had been vocal about the aircraft's poor quality in both design and material, and was quoted saying "Ask me to pilot anything, even a wheelbarrow, but at one condition: make sure it is ''solid''". A similar plane,  [[Latécoère 301|Laté 301]] F-AOIK ''Ville-de-Buenos-Aires'', had disappeared eight months before his own, causing the death, among others, of his mechanic and friend Collenot. The complicated [[Hispano-Suiza 12N]]er engines thought to be the cause of both crashes were later decommissioned and replaced with older, more reliable ones. His message had been heard too late.

==Tributes==
; France
* A museum in Aubenton (''Museum Jean Mermoz'')
* An avenue in Lyon (''Avenue Jean Mermoz'') and a metro station (''Mermoz-Pinel'') on [[Lyon Metro Line D|Line D]] are named in his honour.
* In 1937 Mermoz was honoured by a series of two French postage stamps bearing his image.
* A road in Paris (''rue Jean Mermoz''), between the [[Champs Elysées]] and [[rue Saint-Honoré]] has been named after him.
* The pilot training school in [[Rungis]] is named [[Institut aéronautique Jean Mermoz]].
* The French city of [[Toulouse]] has a road (''rue Jean Mermoz'') and a subway station on [[Toulouse Metro|Line A]] (''Métro Mermoz'') named in his honour. A large abstract steel sculpture commemorating Mermoz and the pilots of the [[Aéropostale (aviation)|Aéropostale]] was erected in the city's [[Jardin Royal (Toulouse)|Jardin Royal]] park in 2001.<ref>Sitnikow, Valérie (20 October 2001). [https://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2001/10/20/306751-revolution-artistique-au-jardin-royal.html "Révolution artistique au Jardin Royal"]. ''[[La Dépêche du Midi]]''. Retrieved 19 February 2019 {{in lang|fr}}.</ref>
* The French [[ocean liner]] [[MV Serenade|''Jean Mermoz'']] built in 1955 was named after him.
; South America
* A French ''lycée'' in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is named after him. The [[Lycée Franco-Argentin Jean Mermoz]], a bilingual school, is located in the intersection of Ramsay and Juramento streets in Belgrano neighbourhood.
* A monument to Jean Mermoz exists in the proximity to [[Jorge Newbery Airpark]] in Buenos Aires, Argentina.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ciudadyderechos.org.ar/derechosbasicos_l.php?id=715&id2=717&id3=4909 |title=Ley CABA Nº: 3479/2010 - Mermoz Jean. Monumento. Avdas. Sarmiento y Costanera Rafael Obligado. Traslado |language=es |date=2010-08-17 |website=Ciudad y Derechos |access-date=2014-05-23}}</ref>
* One of the [[ATR 72-500|ATR-72]] airliners (CX-JCL) in the fleet of [[BQB Líneas Aéreas]] is named after Jean Mermoz.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dragtimes.com/video-viewer.php?v=AM_JnyR7j5o&feature |title=CX-JCL "Jean Mermoz" - ATR 72-212A Buquebus [BQB] Aeroparque (video) |language=es |date=December 7, 2013|website=DragTimes |access-date=2014-05-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523230907/http://www.dragtimes.com/video-viewer.php?v=AM_JnyR7j5o&feature |archive-date=2014-05-23}}</ref>
* ''[[Lycée franco-chilien "Alliance Française" Jean-Mermoz]]''
* Jean Mermoz street in [[Natal, Rio Grande do Norte]], [[Brazil]].
* A primary and middle school is named after Jean Mermoz in [[São Paulo]], [[Brazil]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Menu Escola |url=http://eolgerenciamento.prefeitura.sp.gov.br/frmgerencial/menuescola.aspx?Cod=095311 |access-date=2023-03-08 |website=eolgerenciamento.prefeitura.sp.gov.br}}</ref>
* Aguja Mermoz (one of the subpeaks of the [[Cerro Fitz Roy]]/Chaltén Massif) is named after the pilot
; Africa
* [[Jean-Mermoz International School]] (Ivory Coast)
* [[Lycée Français Jean-Mermoz (Senegal)]]
* Avenue Jean Mermoz, [[Saint Louis, Senegal]]
* Mermoz, a neighborhood of [[Dakar]], Senegal

; Middle East
* [[Lycée Français Jean Mermoz (Dubai)|Lycée Français Jean Mermoz]], Dubai, United Arab Emirates.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lfjm.education/ |title="Lycée Français Jean Mermoz" |language=fr |date=December 7, 2021}}</ref>

; Other
* His epic flights over the Andes and across the Atlantic were commemorated in a film (''Mermoz'') for which [[Arthur Honegger]] wrote the music score. Two orchestral suites drawn from the score were recorded in the 1990s on CD and issued on the DG and Marco Polo labels.
* The [[Bugatti Atlantic]] was named as such an honorary to Mermoz by his friend [[Jean Bugatti]].

== Writings ==
[[File:Mermoz-Mes Vols-Flammarion-1937-couverture-01.JPG|right|120px]]

* ''Mes vols'' (Flammarion, 1937) : an unfinished collection of memories (« My Flights ») published shortly after his death, along with short homages from his best-known friends and admirers.
* ''Défricheur du ciel'' (Bernard Marck (ed.), Archipel, 2006) : edition of Mermoz's correspondence from 1921 to his death in 1936.

==In popular culture==
In 1956 writer [[Jean-Michel Charlier]] in conjunction with artist Victor Hubinon published the biographical graphic novel ''Mermoz'' about the exploits of Mermoz. It was reissued in 1990 with title ''Mermoz, chevalier du ciel''.

The 1995 docudrama ''[[Wings of Courage]]'' by French director [[Jean-Jacques Annaud]] was an account of early airmail pilots including Mermoz (played by [[Val Kilmer]]), [[Henri Guillaumet]] (played by [[Craig Sheffer]]), Saint-Exupéry played by [[Tom Hulce]]. The movie was the world's first dramatic picture shot in the [[IMAX]]-format.

Mermoz was a major character in [[Antonio Iturbe]]’s 2017 Spanish language novel ''A cielo abierto'' which was translated into English and published in 2021 with the title ''The Prince of the Skies''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last1= Charlier |first1= Jean-Michel |last2= Hubinon |first2= Victor |title=  Jean Mermoz, chevalier du ciel  |location= Marcinelle, Hainaut, Belgium |publisher= Dupuis |date= 1990 |language= French |isbn= 9782800117980 }} 
* Mermoz, Jean.  {{lang|fr|Défricheur du ciel : correspondance, 1923-1936}} assembled and presented by Bernard Marck. Paris: L'Archipel, 2001.
* Mermoz, Jean.  ''Mes vols.'' preface by Gilbert Louis; notes by Bernard Marck. Paris: Flammarion, 2001.
* Heimermann, Benoît & Margot, Olivier. ''L'Aéropostale'' preface by Jean-Claude Killy. Paris: Arthaud, 1994.
* Kessel, Joseph. "Mermoz", Gallimard, 1938

==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.lyceemermoz.edu.ar/ Website of the Lycee Franco-Argentin Jean Mermoz in Buenos Aires, Argentina]
* {{cite web |url=http://www.ciudadyderechos.org.ar/derechosbasicos_l.php?id=715&id2=717&id3=4909 |title=Ley CABA Nº: 3479/2010 - Mermoz Jean. Monumento. Avdas. Sarmiento y Costanera Rafael Obligado. Traslado |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |language=es |date=2010-08-17 |website=Ciudad y Derechos |publisher=Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (CABA) |access-date=2014-05-23}} 
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150923201711/http://www.cedom.gov.ar/es/legislacion/normas/leyes/ley3479.html Official text of Ley CABA Nº: 3479/2010 - Jean Mermoz monument] (in Spanish)
*[https://simanaitissays.com/2013/10/08/jean-mermoz-aviator-extraordinaire/ Jean Mermoz, Aviator]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mermoz, Jean}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:1930s missing person cases]]
[[Category:1936 deaths]]
[[Category:Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents]]
[[Category:French aviators]]
[[Category:French Social Party politicians]]
[[Category:Missing aviators]]
[[Category:Missing person cases in France]]
[[Category:People from Aisne]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in international waters]]
[[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1936]]