Juan Bielovucic Cavalié Juan Bielovucic Cavalié ( 30 July 1889 – 14 January 1949 ) was a Peruvian aviator of Croatian and French descent who set several speed and altitude aviation records in 1910 – 13 . He was also the first person to complete a successful powered aircraft crossing of the Alps in 1913 , following a 1910 attempt by Jorge Chávez that ended in a crash landing . He established the first aviation school in South America in Lima , Peru . Bielovucic became a colonel of the Peruvian Aviation Corps ( PAC ) in 1911 , joined the " Service Aéronautique " of the French Army as a volunteer in 1914 and earned the Legion of Honour for his service in World War I . He retired from active aviation in 1920 and returned to Peru where he became the lieutenant commander of the PAC Reserve . He was also active with the French Resistance during World War II . In Croatia , he is regarded as the first Croatian aviator . Early life . Juan Bielovucic Cavalié was born on 30 July 1889 in Lima , Peru to Croat father Miho Bjelovučić ( Juan Miguel Bielovucic ) and French mother Adriana Cavalié . The couple had moved to Peru after Bielovucic ' s father , originally from Košica in Rijeka Dubrovačka area , retired from his position as a merchant navy captain . When Bielovucic was eight , his father fell ill and moved to Dubrovnik where he soon died . After his death , Bielovucic and his mother moved to live with her relatives in France . Bielovucic attended school and university in Paris where he graduated with degrees in philosophy and literature . He was nicknamed " Bielo " . Aviation career . In 1908 , Bielovucic enrolled in the Voisin brothers ' aviation school and was issued aviation licence number 87 by the Aéro - Club de France on 10 June 1910 . He took part in the first Budapest airshow on 1 – 15 June 1910 , registering under his Croatian name , as Ivan Bjelovučić . On 1 – 3 September , he piloted his plane from Paris to Bordeaux with four stopovers : he reached Orléans , away , on 1 September ; continued the next morning to distant Poitiers ; and completed the third leg of the journey to Angoulême . The final part of the trip was completed at noon of 3 September , when Bielovucic landed in Bordeaux . " The New York Times " reported that the flight itself took him seven hours , five minutes and fifty - four seconds ; however , the distance was covered in six hours and fifteen minutes of flying , representing a world record . He flew a Voisin biplane , after only few days of practice . In 1910 , he entered " Circuito Internationale Aereo Di Milano " flying a Voisin aircraft . He took part in Le Bourget Air Show and completed the Paris – Nancy flight in 1911 , setting a new record of two hours and fifty minutes for the route . On 15 January 1911 , Bielovucic returned to Peru , bringing with him an airplane and technical staff requested by the Peruvian Aviation League . In Santa Beatriz , he took off piloting the first aircraft flight in Peru , flying over Lima , Callao and above the Pacific Ocean coast . The flight was witnessed by the President of Peru Augusto B . Leguía and other dignitaries . On 29 January , he completed a 20 - minute flight from Lima to Ancón , a day before he became a flight instructor in the first aviation school in South America . In early 1911 , he became Peruvian Aviation Corps ( PAC ) colonel and returned to France as an air force envoy . On 12 May 1911 , his plane caught fire as he took off from Issy airfield , but Bielovucic survived by bailing out from the aircraft at a low altitude . On 28 May , he took part in a Paris – Rome – Torino air race , and in August joined the 2nd Military Competition in France flying a Hanriot airplane . In late 1912 , he set a climb rate record in a Blériot plane , climbing to in 12 minutes . That year , Le Matin readers voted Bielovucic the best French aviator . In 1913 , Bielovucic was the first to successfully cross the Alps by airplane . He piloted a Hanriot monoplane powered by a engine , completing the crossing first attempted by Jorge Chávez on 23 September 1910 . Chávez had almost completed his flight , but lost control of his final descent , crashed from an altitude of , and sustained fatal injuries . Bielovucic chose to cross the Alps in winter because he noted that the Alpine winds were less frequent then . His first attempt of 14 January failed , and he returned to the starting airfield . He made a second attempt to cross on 25 January , taking off from Brig - Glis , Switzerland at noon , and successfully landed in Domodossola in Italy at 12 : 25 . During the flight , he reached an altitude of , a feat which earned him another record . Later that year , he set another climb rate record , climbing in 150 seconds in a Le Rhône engine - powered Ponnier plane . In 1914 , as World War I began , he joined the " Service Aéronautique " of the French Army as a volunteer , specifically the " Escadrille les Cigognes " as a French and Peruvian officer . He piloted numerous reconnaissance flights over Belgium until he was wounded . Bielovucic was awarded the Legion of Honour , as well as the " Croix de guerre " with a bronze palm and a number of Belgian and Peruvian medals . Later on he worked as the head of an engine testing team in Bellanger and then as the principal of an aviation school in Reims . Bielovucic retired from active piloting in 1920 , and returned to Peru where he became lieutenant commander of the PAC Reserve , regarded as a national hero . Later life and legacy . During World War II , while posted in Paris as Peruvian air attaché , Bielovucic actively cooperated with the French Resistance . At the age of 57 , he parachuted from the Eiffel Tower . Bielovucic died in Paris on 14 January 1949 , and was buried at the " Cimetiere nouveau de Neuilly " in the Nanterre commune of Paris . His biography was written by Lieutenant General José Zlatar Stambuk of the Peruvian Air Force and published in 1990 . In Croatia , he is regarded as the first Croatian aviator because of his paternal ethnic origin . He is known as Ivan Bjelovučić there , while most sources refer to him as Jean Bielovucic or Juan Bielovucic Cavalié . In late September 1910 , Bielovucic took Filippo Tommaso Marinetti , founder of the Futurist movement , flying over Milan as a passenger in a Voisin box kite biplane during the International Air Week . Marinetti stated that the experience moved him to his new concept of art .