Sébastienne Guyot facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sébastienne Guyot
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| Born | 26 April 1896 |
| Died | 21 August 1941 (aged 45) |
| Nationality | French |
| Alma mater | École Centrale Paris |
| Occupation | Engineer, Pilot |
Sébastienne Marie Henriette Guyot (born April 26, 1896 – died August 21, 1941) was a brave and talented French engineer. She was an expert in how things move through the air, especially airplanes. Sébastienne was born in a town called Pont-l'Abbé in Finistère, France.
She first worked as a teacher. But in 1917, she decided to follow her dreams. She left teaching to study engineering at a famous school in Paris. This school, the Central School of Paris, had just started letting girls join. Sébastienne was one of the first women to graduate from there in 1921. She was very good at her studies, ranking high in her class.
Sébastienne was also a great athlete. She even competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. She ran in the 800-meter race. Sadly, she was arrested in 1940 by German forces. She died in Paris in 1941 because of her time in prison.
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Early Life and Family
Sébastienne Marie Henriette Guyot was born on April 26, 1896, in Pont-l'Abbé, a town in Brittany, France. Her father was a mounted policeman. He worked his way up to a high rank.
Sébastienne had an older brother named George. He was born in 1894 and lived until 1982. George became a pilot during the First World War. He was even given a special award called the Légion d’Honneur in 1917 for his bravery. Sébastienne also had two younger brothers, Roger and René.
Education and Learning
In the spring of 1917, Sébastienne Guyot was working as a teacher. She was 21 years old, which meant she could make her own choices. She decided to stop teaching and go back to school.
In October 1917, she joined classes at the Lycée Jules Ferry in Paris. These classes helped women get ready for the entrance exam to the Central School of Paris. This was a big deal because the Central School had just started allowing women to study there. Sébastienne passed the exam and was one of 425 successful students.
She chose to study mechanics, which included electrical engineering. It was a tough program. By the end of the first year, many students had left. Only 243 students actually graduated in 1921, and Sébastienne was one of them.
Career in Aviation Engineering
After she graduated, Sébastienne Guyot started working in aviation. This means she worked with airplanes. Maybe her older brother George, who was a pilot in the war, inspired her.
Her first jobs were at smaller companies. She worked at "Ateliers de construction de l'Ouest" and then at "Établissements Lumière" from about 1922 to 1928. The Lumiere company designed aircraft. Sébastienne helped work on a small twin-engine plane. The company also did research for the French government.
In 1929, Guyot moved to a much bigger company called "Hydravions Lioré & Olivier". This company made seaplanes and military aircraft, like the LeO 45. She stayed there until 1935. She worked on parts of seaplanes, like their bodies and hulls. Other designers she worked with thought she was very good at her job.
In 1932, Sébastienne learned to fly a plane herself! She even bought her own light plane. It was a Farman 231 model. It had two seats and could go about 186 kilometers per hour. Her plane had a picture of two dogs on its side.
Around 1932, Guyot also started working on special spinning blades for rotor craft, like helicopters. She worked with another engineer named William Arthur Loth. Between 1932 and 1939, they created six patents together. These patents were about making rotor blades lift better and making them more stable.
In 1936, the French government created a national military aircraft company called the Arsenal de l'Aéronautique. Sébastienne Guyot was described as the "Head of the Helicopter Service" there. This shows she had a very important role. The Arsenal moved during the Second World War.
Sports Achievements
Besides her amazing work as an engineer, Sébastienne Guyot was also a very successful long-distance runner. In January 1927, she joined a sports club that supported women's sports in France.
She became the French champion for women's cross-country running in 1928. Because of this, she was chosen to run for France in the 800-meter race at the Olympic Games in Amsterdam. She continued to compete in races until 1932.
Médaille de la Résistance
On July 7, 1940, Sébastienne Guyot learned that her younger brother René was a prisoner of war. He was held at a camp in Mulsanne. Sébastienne decided to try and rescue him. She left Toulouse on July 9.
She managed to cross the German army's lines without being caught. She reached Mulsanne on July 15 and got in touch with her brother. René explained that he was in charge of all the prisoners at the camp. He felt he could not leave his men, as his escape might put them in danger. Sébastienne understood his reasons and left to go back to Toulouse.
However, German troops found her. She had a map with instructions to avoid them and a compass. She was arrested on July 19, 1940. A court tried her on August 5, and she was sentenced to six months in jail.
While in prison, Sébastienne became very ill. She did not get the right medical care. When her brother George came to pick her up in January 1941, he found out she had been rushed to the hospital. She was very thin and her hands were badly frostbitten. George quickly took her to Paris. A surgeon saved her hand, but her illness got worse. She died in a hospital in Paris on August 22, 1941.
After the war, in March 1947, Sébastienne Guyot was given the Médaille de la Résistance. This special medal is for people who bravely resisted during the war. Her three brothers all survived the war.
Legacy and Remembrance
Sébastienne Guyot was given the Resistance Medal after she died.
She is the only woman whose name is on the war memorial at the Ecole Centrale, the engineering school she attended.
Since 2010, a special scholarship has been given each year in her name. This scholarship helps five young students at the Ecole Centrale pay for their studies.
In 2015, a street was named after Sébastienne Guyot. It is one of eight streets in a new university area in Gif-sur-Yvette. This area will be home to a new engineering school called CentraleSupélec.
Images for kids
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Sébastienne Guyot, a French engineer and pilot.
