Gaston Tissandier
(November 21st, 1843 - August 30th, 1899)
Gaston Tissandier was a French chemist, meteorologist, aviator, and editor. He escaped besieged Paris by balloon during the Franco-Prussian war in September 1870. In 1883, Tissandier fit a Siemens electric motor to an airship, thus creating the first electric-powered flight. In 1875 he became deaf and two of his companions died during a balloon flight that went 8600 meters high. In 1873 he founded and edited the scientific magazine La Nature and wrote several books.
