Before becoming associated with one of the world’s greatest tennis tournaments, the name Roland Garros referred to a figure in French history : an aviation pioneer, a great inventor, and a pilot who served during World War I.
Born on the island of Réunion in 1888, Roland Garros grew up in several different places : in French Indochina, where his family settled for a time, before he returned to mainland France to continue his studies.
The call of the skies, a sudden calling
A graduate of HEC Paris, he launched his own automobile design firm at age 21, yet his destiny lay elsewhere. In August 1909, he attended the Champagne Aviation Week and fell head over heels in love with these incredible machines. From then on, he had only one thing on his mind: flying. Since Garros never did anything halfway, he immediately bought an aircraft, taught himself to fly it, and then went on to earn his pilot’s license right away.
He quickly made a name for himself in air competitions: he went from one air show to another, setting records—particularly for altitude. His name soon spread throughout Europe.
And it was September 23, 1913, that marked a decisive turning point in his new career. On that day, Garros set out to fly nonstop from the south of France to North Africa, crossing the Mediterranean Sea by plane for the first time. He took off from Saint-Raphaël at dawn with barely enough fuel to make the trip.
The flight lasted nearly seven hours and fifty-three minutes, with the engine threatening to fail. Yet he reached Bizerte in Tunisia with only a few liters of fuel remaining. The feat was immediately hailed as a historic achievement : the man who called himself the “cloud kisser” became an icon, celebrated by artistic and social circles, admired for his daring as much as for his style.
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Featured photo : © Roland Garros – FFT
