Maryse Bastié

Maryse Bastié (; 27 February 1898 – 6 July 1952) was a French aviator who set several international records for female aviators during the 1930s.

Early life She was born Marie-Louise Bombec in Limoges, Haute-Vienne; Bastié's father died when she was eleven, and her family struggled to survive. As an adolescent she worked in a shoe factory, money was scarce and an early marriage that failed left her with a child, who died young, and limited means.

Flying career As a result of her marriage to Louis Bastié, a World War I pilot, she became fascinated by the new phenomenon of powered flight and was determined to become a pilot and to own her own plane. She obtained her license to fly and although her husband was killed in a plane crash (in 1926), Maryse Bastié began doing aerobatics to earn money to keep herself flying and in 1927 purchased her own aircraft, a Caudron C.109. In September 1939, she and three other pilots, Maryse Hilsz, Claire Roman and Paulette Bray-Bouquet were requisitioned to ferry planes to the front for the Air Force.

Awards

In 1931, Bastié was awarded a Knight in France's Legion of Honour for her flight on 28 June 1931, a 2976 km journey from Le Bourget to Yurino (Russia) undertaken in 30 hours 30 minutes at an average speed of 97 km/h. In 1936, this was upgraded to the rank of officer for Bastié's flight aboard her Caudron 635 Simoun F-Anxo (30 December 1936), which broke the record for crossing the South Atlantic in 12 hours 5 minutes.

There is a memorial to Maryse Bastile in the west of Paris in a small park of the Boulevard du Garigliano M. Valin not far from the Seine.

A plaque commemorates her on the wall of her former home at 23 rue Froidevaux, Paris 14e.

In 2025, French historic aircraft specialist Antoine Ros built and flew a replica of Maryse Bastié Caudron C.109 F-AHFE, which was used in 1929 by Maryse Bastié to set her duration record.