Santos-Dumont, Alberto. Born at Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1873. A French aeronaut of means and leisure, whose ambition was to establish that an airship for aerial navigation "is not a mere plaything but a practical invention, capable of being applied in a thoroughly useful fashion." On October 19, 1901, Santos Dumont won the Deutsch prize of £10,000, offered to the first aeronaut who should go to and return from the Eiffel Tower, the Aerostatic Park in Paris being the starting point. In November, 1901 the Brazilian Congress voted Santos Dumont £5,000 in recognition of his services to aeronautic science. Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, 1904.

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