Adrienne Bolland

Adrienne Bolland
Bolland ca. 1921
Born	(1895-11-25)November 25, 1895 Arcueil, Île-de-France, France
Died	March 18, 1975(1975-03-18) (aged 79) Paris, France
Nationality	French
Known for	First flight over Andes by a woman
Spouse	Ernest Vinchon
Aviation career
Famous flights	Across Andes, 1 April 1921
Flight license	1920 Le Crotoy

Adrienne Bolland, born Boland, (25 November 1895 – 18 March 1975) was a French test pilot. She was the first woman to fly over the Andes between Chile and Argentina. She was later described as "France's most accomplished female aviator",^[1] setting a woman's record for loops done in an hour. The French government eventually recognized her with the Legion of Honor and other awards. Since her death, she has been commemorated with a postage stamp of Argentina.

Born into a large family outside Paris, she became a pilot in her twenties to pay off gambling debts. An early crossing of the English Channel led René Caudron, her employer, to send her to South America to demonstrate his planes, where she made her Andes crossing, assisted, she later said, by a tip relayed to her from a medium. Later in her life she became involved in leftist political causes, and eventually became part of the French Resistance during World War II.