The true identity of "Hauvette-Michelin"

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Anders
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Joined: Thu May 02, 2013 1:35 pm

The true identity of "Hauvette-Michelin"

Postby Anders » Sat Mar 07, 2015 10:11 am

"Hauvette-Michelin" flew an Antoinette in the Heliopolis and La Crau meetings in early 1910 and was killed in an accident at the Lyon meeting in May 1910, becoming the sixth pilot to die in an air accident. His first name was never mentioned in contemporary reports, which made it likely that "Hauvette-Michelin" was a pseudonym.

In the December 2012 "Icare" (No. 223, "Courses et Meetings Aériennes de la Belle Époque, Vol. II, 1910") the first name "Jules" turned up. Since the "Icare" seemed well-researched I accepted the name and used it on thefirstairraces.net, even though I could find no supporting evidence. On the contrary, the only Jules Hauvette-Michelin I could find was alive well into the 1930s.

While researching the Lyon meeting I thought I would try again to find out who "Hauvette-Michelin" really was. The name "Hauvette", without "Michelin", appeared a couple of times in Aérophile at the time when he made his first flights. Reports at the time of his death stated that he was the third son of an artillery colonel and a nephew of the famous tire and rubber industrialist Édouard Michelin. Armed with these facts it was relatively easy to find his identity on this genealogy site. The true name of "Hauvette-Michelin" was Gabriel Hauvette, born 21 May 1887. This could then be verified by this article (bottom of the page), which was published when his cousin Étienne Michelin was killed in an air accident in 1932.

Another piece added to the big jigsaw puzzle...
Anders

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