{"id":15,"date":"2024-06-15T18:03:48","date_gmt":"2024-06-15T18:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/parachutists.org\/ladiesofskydiving.com\/us\/?page_id=15"},"modified":"2025-03-20T21:18:16","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T21:18:16","slug":"early-years","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/parachutists.org\/ladiesofskydiving.com\/us\/early-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Years"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nLadies of Skydiving
\n<\/span>
\nThe Early Years<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n

1799---1942<\/span>
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The early history of women safely falling from great heights may have begun in China more than a thousand years ago with acrobats using two\u00a0large conical bamboo hats\u00a0to descend safely. The first Western woman in modern history to do so is the wife of the first man to safely use a frame-less parachute.<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Biographies<\/strong><\/h1><\/center>\n
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Monsieur and Madame Garnerin<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tJeanne-Genevi\u00e8ve Garnerin
(1775\u20131847)\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\nJeanne-Genevi\u00e8ve Labrosse was born in Paris France in 1775.
\nThe exact date of her birth, details about her parents, any siblings and her childhood are unclear.
\nOn the historic day, October 22, 1797, when Andr\u00e9-Jacques Garnerin performed his hydrogen balloon flight at Parc Monceau,\nParis, Jeanne witnessed him make his first parachuting descent and approached him upon landing to become his pupil.
Jeanne-\nGenevi\u00e8ve had also fallen that day, fallen in love with Andr\u00e9-Jacques; they soon became husband and wife.\n

\nFinding in Andr\u00e9-Jacques a kindred spirit, Jeanne-Genevi\u00e8ve\ndid indeed become his pupil, and his wife, the first woman balloon\npilot and first lady parachutist. Jeanne proved herself a natural\nballoonist and was the first woman to undertake a solo ascent,\nmaking Jeanne Genevi\u00e8ve Garnerin the first female aircraft pilot!\nMotivated by her successful balloon flights, she set her sights on\nanother ambition, determined to be the first woman to parachute\ndown from a balloon to the earth. Using her tutor's tried and tested\nmethods and with much fanfare, Jeanne made her first descent on\nOctober 12, 1799, proving beyond a doubt to the press and to the\npublic that they need not fear about the possible damage high\naltitudes and rapid descents might cause to the \u201cdelicate female\nconstitution.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\nJeanne-Genevi\u00e8ve became the first woman to parachute, falling\nfrom a height of 900 meters, becoming an aeronautical pioneer and\nan instant celebrity. This first female parachutist dropped from a\nballoon using an apparatus that her husband had developed. Her\nachievement was celebrated throughout France and the continent\nof Europe.
\nAndr\u00e9-Jacques held the position of Official Aeronaut of France\nand was unofficially known as the \u201cA\u00e9rostatier des F\u00eates Publiques\u201d\nThe couple took advantage of a lull in hostilities during the Peace of\nAmiens and traveled to England in 1802. They completed a number\nof demonstration flights there. Their first flight, ascending from the\nVolunteer Ground in North Audley Street, Grosvenor Square\nincluded a parachute descent by Andr\u00e9-Jacques into a field near St\nPancras. Once again, the public demonstrations proved enormously\npopular, drawing massive crowds.\nJeanne outdid herself when she accompanied her husband on\nhis third flight over London; she performed a parachute drop from\nan estimated 8,000 feet. Having a keen eye for public relations,\nAndr\u00e9-Jacques had previously invited the young and beautiful\nCitoyenne Henri for a balloon trip in the summer of 1798, so he\nknew the promotional value of having the attractive Jeanne-\nGenevi\u00e8ve falling from his balloons. Dropping from a height of\n8,000 feet, much to the wonder and amusement of the Londoners,\nwas truly phenomenal and awe inspiring.\nWhen the war between France and Great Britain resumed in\n1803, the couple were forced to leave England and return to France,\nwhere she continued to make flights and descents. Jeanne-\n<\/p>\n

\nGenevi\u00e8ve Garnerin then became the official Aerostiere de F\u00eates\nPubliques for the aeronautical spectacles arranged for Napoleon\u2019s\nbenefit.\nAndr\u00e9-Jacques died in 1823, Jeanne retired from the ballooning\nand parachuting, passing the reins on to her niece \u00c9lisa. After\n\nretiring from show business, ballooning and parachuting, Jeanne-\nGenevi\u00e8ve took on a new career path, one more down to earth, as\n\nco-proprietress of a Table \u2018dhote. She ran the restaurant together\nwith another heroine from the days of the French Revolution and\nthe Napoleonic Wars, Marie-Th\u00e9r\u00e8se Figueur, Madame Sans-G\u00eane,\none of the very few women who had fought in the wars for twenty\nseven years without disguising her gender.\nJeanne-Genevi\u00e8ve (Labrosse) Garnerin died on June 14, 1847 in\nParis, at the age of seventy-two.\nOn October 17, 2006, rue Jeanne-Garnerin was named in her\nhonor in the town of Wissous in France.\n<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>

Jean-Genevieve Garnerin<\/h3>