|
Virginie Claire Désirée Marie Hériot (26 July 1890 – 28 August 1932) was a French yachtswoman who won in the 1928 Summer Olympics in the 8 Metre ''Aile VI''. She was born in Le Vésinet and died in Arcachon. ==Biographie== Daughter of Grands Magasins du Louvre's owner Olympe Hériot and Cyprienne Dubernet, Hériot first cruised in 1904 aboard her mother's yacht ''Katoomba'' (rechristened ''El Salvador'' in 1904), with her brother Auguste and seven friends of the family. Her Mediterranean tour from April to June of that year would have a deep impact on her life. On 2 May 1910, at the Château de La Boissière (Yvelines), she was married to Viscount François Marie Haincque de Saint Senoch, also impassioned by the sea. The yacht ''El Salvadaor'' was given to the couple as a wedding present and they spent their honeymoon aboard. They begot a son, Hubert, born on 5 January 1913. In 1918, Hériot underwent a serious surgical operation, and in June 1921 she and her husband separated. She became fully dedicated to yachting after this, seldom staying at her Parisian apartment in rue de Presbourg. In 1912, Hériot ordered her first racer: ''L' Aile I'', but failed reconquer the Coupe of France that the English had held for two years. In 1921, she acquired the 85-metre 1492-ton steamyacht ''Finlandia'', which she later replaced with the 45-metre 400-ton auxiliary schooner ''L' Ailée'', where she would spend 10 months per year. Hériot ordered more racers: the 8 Metre ''L' Aile II'' and the 6 Metre ''Petite Aile''. In 1922 ''L' Aile II'' was first beaten by ''Bora'' in Le Havre, but with perseverance Hériot soon won race after race. In 1928, she won the gold medal at the Amsterdam Olympic Games aboard ''Aile VI'', as well as the "Cup of Italy" against Holland, Italy, England, the United States, Sweden, Norway and Argentina. In 1929, she lifted the "Coupe of France" from the English and won "His Majesty Alfonso XIII of Spain Copa del Rey". In 1931, she won the Ryde-Le Havre-Ryde race with a lead of 9 minutes and 40 seconds on the three-masted schooner ''Sonia''. Following these victories, Hériot was awarded the Knighthood of the Légion d'honneur. Alfonso XIII of Spain made visits with his family on her schooner ''Ailée II'' and awarded her the Spanish Naval Merit in 1930. The poet Rabindranath Tagore called her "Madame de la Mer". Hériot promoted French yachting and French shipyard engineering throughout the world. According to Georges Leygues, she had become a true "ambassadress of the French Navy". She was also devoted to philanthropic works, supported clubs such as the Yacht Club de France which was chaired by Jean-Baptiste Charcot at the time, and offered ''Brest one-designs'' to the pupils of the École Navale. She published poems, as well as a "Harbour atlas" with her own drawings. In early 1932, she was seriously injured in a storm between Venice and Greece, but refused to retire from the competition. At the end of August, during the Arcachon regattas, she lost consciousness aboard ''Aile VII'', but started nevertheless. Struck by a syncope as she crossed the finishing line, she later died on 28 August 1932, aboard ''Ailée II''. Her funeral was held on 2 September in Paris in the Saint Clotilde Basilica. Her mother, unable to order Virginie's body to be cast off the Breton coasts as per her dying wishes, had her buried in the family vault in La Boissière-École instead. In 1948, her son honoured Virginie's wishes, and her body was finally cast to the sea. 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「Virginie Hériot」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|