Élisabeth Thible

Who is Élisabeth Thible?

Élisabeth Thible, or Tible, born in Lyon was an otherwise unknown French opera singer who was the first woman on record to ride in a hot air balloon.

On June 4, 1784, only eight months following the first manned balloon flight, Thible took her place with Mr. Fleurant on board a hot air balloon christened La Gustave in honour of King Gustav III of Sweden's visit to Lyon.

In the original preparations for the flight, the pilot, a Monsieur Fleurant, had prepared to travel with Count Jean-Baptiste de Laurencin, who had been one of the six subscribed passengers on the experimental flight on the huge Montgolfier balloon called the Flesselles after Jacques de Flesselles the promoter of the subscription list, on January 19 of that year. The only flight that Joseph Montgolfier would pilot, the twelve-minute flight ended dramatically when the balloon started to tear and smoulder. Although all six passengers and the pilot, were unhurt, some attribute cold feet to the count following the accident as the reason he gave Élisabeth Thible his spot on The Gustave.