Claude Jobert

Claude Jobert, born on in Dijon and died on in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, was a French mechanical engineer and inventor, and one of the pioneers of aeronautics.

Biography

He studied kite flying from 1870 onwards and explored the possibility of using them for aerial navigation. As vice-president of the Academy of Aeronautics, he built mechanical birds with two or four wings in 1873. In 1875, he flew with Théodore Sivel, Joseph Crocé-Spinelli, and the brothers Albert and Gaston Tissandier aboard the balloon Zénith from La Villette to the Landes in nearly 23 hours. He also conducted meteorological studies during the flights and served as an instructor at the Industrial School.
Jules Verne mentioned him in Chapter III of his novel Robur the Conqueror.