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Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt, (born Elizabeth Levi; 5 January 1882, died 17 May 1922) was the first British woman racing driver, holder of the world's first water speed record, the women's world land speed record holder, and an author. She was a pioneer of female independence and female motoring, and taught Queen Alexandra and the Royal Princesses how to drive. In 1905 she established the record for the longest drive achieved by a lady driver by driving a De Dion-Bouton from London to Liverpool and back over two days, receiving the soubriquets in the press of the Fastest Girl on Earth, and the Champion Lady Motorist of the World. Levitt's book ''The Woman and the Car: A Chatty Little Handbook for all Women who Motor or Who Want to Motor'', recommended that women should "carry a little hand-mirror in a convenient place when driving" so they may "hold the mirror aloft from time to time in order to see behind while driving in traffic", thus inventing the rear view mirror before it was introduced by manufacturers in 1914. She also advised women travelling alone to carry a revolver; her recommendation was an automatic Colt, as in her opinion its relative lack of recoil made it particularly suitable for women. ==Background== Levitt was born Elizabeth Levi, in Hackney on 5 January 1882. She was the daughter of Jacob Levi, a prosperous jeweller, tea dealer, and Commission Agent of Colvestone Crescent, Hackney. Dorothy's mother was born Julia Raphael in Aldgate on 31 October 1856 (or possibly 1858) and married Jacob Levi in March 1877. Jacob died in 1934 and Julia in 1942. Levitt had two sisters: Lilly, (6 March 1878 – 8 April 1879); and Elsie Ruby (1892 – 1959 or 1963). Levitt or Levit had been adopted as the anglicized family surname by 1901. Scant information is available about Levitt's life except indications that she was an experienced horse rider. She described remaining astride a galloping horse while it negotiated jumps in a steeplechase as easier than retaining a seat in a car being driven at speed. In 1902 she was employed as a secretary at the Napier & Son works in Vine Street, Lambeth, where she was engaged initially on a temporary basis. The Napier engineering company had been purchased by Montague Napier from the executors of his father's estate. After undertaking work for Selwyn Edge on his Panhard et Levassor racing car, Napiers diversified to manufacturing cars in 1899. At this time the British motor industry was only beginning to develop; even the suggestion of motor races on public roads caused an outcry with hill climbs and speed tests having to be undertaken on private land. When or how Levitt met Edge is unclear, as several versions and nuances are reported and both she and Edge appear to have been "orientated towards self-publicity". Napier cars were driven by Edge in motor races and he piloted one to win the 1902 Gordon Bennett Cup, a race from Paris to Austria; while competing there he noticed the influence Camille du Gast's participation had in drawing media attention to French racing cars. One suggestion was that Edge was seeking an English version of du Gast to enhance the sale of British cars. Jean Williams, British sports historian, hypothesises it may also have been to initiate a similar strategy to that employed by Kodak to infer "even women" could manage it. Edge noticed Levitt, who was described by author Jean Francois Bouzanquet as a "beautiful secretary with long legs and eyes like pools", working in the Napier office and promoted her to become his personal assistant, as she fulfilled almost all of his criteria for a woman suitable to gain extra publicity for the company. Later newspaper accounts paint a "romantic history" for Levitt by reporting that when she was twenty her parents moved to the countryside and tried to arrange a marriage for her. Unhappy about their choice of prospective husband, she absconded. While her parents searched fruitlessly for her, she became acquainted with Edge, who advised her to develop a career. Edge's influence on her career was enormous, having recognised her spirit he instigated her career in motoring, arranged her training in Paris, provided her cars in order to promote his dealerships and supplied her motor boats. She is presumed to have also been his mistress for a time. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dorothy Levitt」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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