Jean d'Aulan

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Jean d'Aulan in the uniform of the Escadrille La Fayette
Jean d'Aulan in a frame race for the 1925 French Grand Prix

Marquis Jean Harouard de Suarez d'Aulan (born November 20, 1900 in Savasse , † October 8, 1944 near Heidwiller ) was a French nobleman , businessman, aviator , bobsleigh driver and car racing driver .

Family and origin

Jean d'Aulan came from a Spanish aristocratic family who at the time of the reign of Charles V tremendous impact in the Spanish monarchy had. Under pressure from the Holy Roman Emperor , the family had to leave Spain and settle in France. He was the son of François Harouard de Suarez d'Aulan and Madeleine de Geoffre de Chabrignac . By marrying Marie Yolande Kunkelmann in 1926, the heiress of Piper-Heidsieck , he became co-owner and manager of the champagne house in Reims . The couple had four children, including Chatherine, who was married to Claude Taittinger ( Taittinger champagne).

Bobsledder

Jean d'Aulan, who was also a successful swimmer and cliff diver , won four French championships as a bobsleigh driver . At the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924 , he reached fourth place in the four-man bobsleigh in a team with André Berg , Henri Aldebert and Georges André . In 1928 in St. Moritz it was only enough for 14th overall place in the five-man bobsleigh . Part of the team was the designer and racing driver André Dubonnet . His greatest success was third place in the four-man bobsleigh at the 1934 Bobsleigh World Championship in Garmisch-Partenkirchen . His last international appearances were at the 1936 Winter Olympics with 14th place in the two-man bobsleigh and 9th place in the four-man bobsleigh.

Racing career

In 1925, Jean d'Aulan started as a men's driver in two sports car races . Together with René Dély , he drove an EHP to 14th place in the overall ranking at the Le Mans 24-hour race . It was used for the second time in the Monthléry 12-hour race , which was held as part of the 1925 French Grand Prix . In the race that ended with André Boillot's victory in a Peugeot 18 CV, d'Aulan retired.

Aviator in World War II

Jean d'Aulan, who served in the infantry during World War I , joined the resistance after the occupation of France by the Wehrmacht in June 1940. He hid downed British airmen and paratroopers in the basement of Piper-Heidsieck. A betrayal made the flight to North Africa necessary. At the age of 42 he joined the second fighter group of the Escadrille La Fayette in Algeria and became the oldest fighter pilot in World War II .

As a lieutenant , he flew missions over German territory. During one of these missions, his Republic P-47 was shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 109 over Tagholsheimer Holz in autumn 1944 . Jean d'Aulan was killed in the crash and was buried in the family crypt on the Cimetière du Nord in Reims.

statistics

Le Mans results

year team vehicle Teammate placement Failure reason
1925 EHP EHP DT Spéciale FranceFrance René Dély Rank 14

literature

  • Julius Wagner (Ed.): The Olympic Games 1928 St. Moritz - Amsterdam . Julius Wagner publishing house, Zurich 1928.
  • Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909-413-06-3 .
  • RM Clarke: Le Mans. The Bentley & Alfa Years 1923-1939. Brooklands Books, Cobham 1998, ISBN 1-85520-465-7 .

Web links

Commons : Jean d'Aulan  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jean d'Aulan in Piper-Heidsieck
  2. ^ Olympic Winter Games 1924 bobsleigh
  3. ↑ The world champions in four-bobsleigh
  4. ↑ Two-man bobsleigh 1936
  5. ^ 12-hour race of Monthléry 1925
  6. Jump up ↑ Olympic athletes killed in World War II
personal data
SURNAME Aulan, Jean d '
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aulan, Marquis Jean Harouard de Suarez d '(full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French entrepreneur, bobsledder, aviator and car racing driver
DATE OF BIRTH 20th November 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Savasse
DATE OF DEATH October 8, 1944
Place of death Heidwiller