The pioneers of aviation Élise Léontine Deroche, or Baroness Raymonde de Laroche Daughter of a leather goods father, Élise Deroche was born on 22 August 1882 in Paris. As a child, she loved sports and physical activity and grew up interested in cars and motorcycles. Despite this interest, she turned to an artistic career and devoted herself to painting and sculpture, but especially to theatre. It is for the scene that she takes the pseudonym Raymonde de Laroche. The exploits of the pioneers of an emerging aviation industry, such as Orville and Wilbur Wright or his friend Léon Delagrange, attracted Raymonde; but no woman had ever obtained a pilot's licence before. Raymonde's meeting with Charles Voisin was decisive. A pioneer in aviation, he initiated it to piloting at his request. The first patented pilot In October 1909, on the airfield of the Châlons-en-Champagne military camp, Raymonde took her first flight course. The plane being a single-seater, she took the controls while Charles passed her instructions from the ground. The apprentice pilot is not supposed to take off, but one turn around the runway is enough to make her feel ready to fly. Despite Charles' ban, Raymonde took off a few metres from the ground and flew alone for 300 metres with precision, stability and smoothness. Raymonde persevered in her apprenticeship; on March 8, 1910, she became the first woman to obtain a pilot's licence. Its licence, issued by the Aéro-club de France, is number 36. She was soon followed by other pioneers, such as Marie Marvingt, Hélène Dutrieu, Jeanne Herveux and Jeanne Pallier. Airshows and meetings With his patent in his pocket, Raymonde took part in the first airshows in Egypt, Saint Petersburg, Budapest, Rouen and Reims. The only woman among the pilots, she attracts attention; in Saint Petersburg, she is personally congratulated by Tsar Nicholas II. The press and meetings began to present her as "Baroness" Raymonde de Laroche, even though she did not have the title. In July 1910, during a demonstration, her plane crashed and Raymonde suffered such serious injuries that it is not certain that she will be able to recover. It takes him two years to get back on his feet and get back on the road. In September 1912, she suffered serious injuries again in a car accident in which Charles Voisin died.

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