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    1. tintin_du_93 on

      Marie Marvingt, known as the “fiancée of danger,” was an athlete: a cyclist, mountaineer, swimmer, marksman, boxer, skier, and speleologist…

      Marie Marvingt excelled in almost every discipline she tried. Her most striking achievement was her participation in the 1908 Tour de France: refused by the organizers because of her sex, she secretly took the start and crossed the finish line 36th out of 114 starters. The organizers refused to officially recognize her performance.

      Passionate about aeronautics, she became the third woman in the world to obtain her pilot’s license in 1910. She held four licenses: airplane, balloon, seaplane, and helicopter, the last of which she earned in 1959 at the age of 84.

      In October 1909, she became the first woman to cross the North Sea and the English Channel by balloon, a dangerous fourteen-hour journey.

      During the First World War, Marie Marvingt refused to stay behind. She disguised herself as a man and joined the front, where she served for 47 consecutive days in the trenches with the 42nd Battalion of Foot Chasseurs. Far from being discouraged, she used her skiing skills to help the wounded on the Italian front, before devoting herself fully to care as a nurse and war correspondent, while tirelessly campaigning for the creation of air ambulances.

      During the Second World War, she founded associations, trained nurse-pilots, and developed the first air medical transport structures. Thirty-four decorations would later honor a commitment that French military and medical institutions took a long time to fully recognize, making her the most decorated woman in French history.

    2. Go to lift the soldiers in the trench opposite? I feel like I’m having a stroke

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