150th Anniversary of the Birth of Louis Bleriot

Born in Cambrai in 1872, a graduate of the Ecole Centrale Paris in 1895, Louis Blériot founded the successful Etablissements L. Blériot which manufactured acetylene headlamps for the fast-growing automobile industry. At the same time, he devoted himself to his passion for aviation and built his first aircraft as early as 1901.

On 25 July 1909, flying the Blériot XI, he completed the first flight over the English Channel from Calais to Dover. Blériot was part of the first generation of aviators and aeroplane builders, the heroes of the “Belle Époque”, whose collective memory retains almost legendary status. Blériot lived in Monaco, at his estate named “Le Nid” (“The Nest”) which he bought in 1920 and which remained in his family until 1958.