In 1907, a group of prominent figures attended Alberto Santos Dumont's experiments in a seaplane.
Vintage photograph, from the Rol photography agency, of a group of personalities observing Alberto Santos Dumont.
Some notes on the back, in French.
11.8 cm x 16.8 cm.
October 23, 1907, Paris region, on the Seine River.
Good condition conservation.
Unique piece.
Assistance aux esseis de l'hydroplane Santos Dumont October 1907
Delagrange aviator Kapferer pilot de la Belle de Paris Don Jaime de Bourbon Captain Caddy Archiduc Salvatore Leopold d'Autriche Demarest de la St Antoinette
(There is one more person, on the far right of the photo, a gentleman whose last name is Mangin.)
At the end of 1907, aviation was taking off with the flights of American and European pioneers. Santos-Dumont abandoned the dirigible to build the "Demoiselle". But before that, he dedicated himself to No. 18, a seaplane. After tests on the Seine River, without an engine at the end of the summer, Santos-Dumont installed a 50 hp engine, and then a 100 hp one, before sinking it and almost drowning.
This photograph is famous and has been reproduced countless times on postcards. It depicts a group of seven elegant men observing Santos Dumont's exploits in his seaplane from a boat on the Seine River. The men appearing in the photograph are:
Léon Delagrange (1872-1910). Santos-Dumont made his last flight as a pilot in the Demoiselle on January 4, 1910. The flight ended in an accident, but he survived with only a few bruises. On that same day, the pioneer Léon Delagrange died while piloting a Blériot.
Henri Kapferer (1870-1958) was a businessman with a passion for mechanics. A descendant of Henry Deutsch, the creator of the famous Deutsch Prize (1901-1903), which helped make Santos Dumont a celebrity in 1901 (I will soon present an exceptional document from Santos Dumont recounting this event!).
I haven't yet discovered who Don Jaime de Bourbon, Capitaine Caddy, Demarest de la St Antoinette, and Mangin were. But Archduke Salvatore Leopold of Austria (1863-1931) was a military man and scientist, heir to the European Habsburg royal family. He made a fortune patenting an engine for the Czech brand, Skoda.
More and more, I love photographs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Especially when they show Brazil or renowned Brazilians. This is the case with this photograph, in which Santos Dumont doesn't appear, but all eyes are on him, admiring the small, very courageous Brazilian. The photograph was taken from the docks, and I was fascinated by the elegance and posture of these seven men. A fun detail: a dog appeared in the foreground at the exact moment the photographer clicked the shutter.
