Editing Alberto Santos-Dumont (section)

==Childhood==

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Alberto Santos-Dumont was the sixth child of [[Henrique Dumont]], an engineer who graduated from the Central School of Arts and Manufactures in Paris, and Francisca de Paula Santos. The couple had eight children, three sons and five daughters: Henrique dos Santos-Dumont, Maria Rosalina Dumont Vilares, Virgínia Dumont Vilares, {{ill|Luís dos Santos Dumont|pt|Luiz Dumont}}, Gabriela, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Sofia, and Francisca.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://santos-dumont.net/indexcronologia.html|title=Cronologia|language=pt-br|access-date=2021-04-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915001942/http://santos-dumont.net/indexcronologia.html|archive-date=2020-09-15|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1873, the family moved to the small town of [[Santos Dumont, Minas Gerais|Cabangu]], in the municipality of João Aires,<ref name=Barros2003>{{cite journal |last=Barros |first=Henrique Lins de |title=Santos Dumont: o vôo que mudou a história da aviação |language=pt-br |url=http://seer.cgee.org.br/index.php/parcerias_estrategicas/article/viewFile/239/233 |journal=Parcerias Estratégicas |volume=8 |number=17 |year=2003 |pages=303–341 |doi= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903162756/http://seer.cgee.org.br/index.php/parcerias_estrategicas/article/viewFile/239/233 |archive-date=2021-09-03 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{rp|p=305}}{{efn|Later the name changed to Palmyra and then Santos Dumont in July 1932, by initiative of Oswaldo Henrique Castello Branco<ref>{{cite web|url=https://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2019/02/01/cultura/1549052359_482486.html|title=A memória de Santos Dumont pede socorro|date=2 February 2019|language=pt-br|access-date=2019-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190629123944/https://brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2019/02/01/cultura/1549052359_482486.html|archive-date=2019-06-29|url-status=live}}</ref> and later, to Santos-Dumont<ref name=Hoffman>{{cite book |last=Hoffman|first=Paul |year=2010 |title=Asas da Loucura: A extraordinária vida de Santos-Dumont |url= |location=Rio de Janeiro |publisher=Ponto de Leitura |isbn=978-85-390-0009-8 |author-link=Paul Hoffman (science writer)|translator=Marisa Motta|language=pt-br}}</ref>{{rp|p=340}}}} for Henrique Dumont to work on the construction of the [[Estrada de Ferro Central do Brasil|D. Pedro II railroad]]. The construction work finished when Alberto was 6, and the family moved to São Paulo.<ref name=Hoffman />{{rp|p=17}}{{efn|{{harvnb|''O Cruzeiro'', 25 de setembro de|1974}} says that the family left Cabangu when Santos Dumont was 1 year old and from there they went to Casal, near [[Valença, Rio de Janeiro|Valença]] (Rio de Janeiro), where Henrique Dumont would manage the farm of his father-in-law, Francisco de Paula Santos. After friction between Henrique and Francisco, the family moved to the neighborhood of [[São Francisco Xavier, Rio de Janeiro|São Francisco Xavier]].<ref name=OCruzeiro1974>{{Cite magazine|url=http://memoria.bn.br/docreader/DocReader.aspx?bib=003581&pagfis=193830|title=Vida e Morte do Pai da Aviação (I)|lang=pt-br|last=Morel|first=Edmar|magazine=O Cruzeiro|date=1974-09-25|issue=37|volume=46|pages=62–67|ref={{harvid|''O Cruzeiro'', 25 de setembro de|1974}}}}</ref>{{rp|p=63}}}} Here he began to show signs of his aeronautical interest; according to his parents, at the age of one he used to puncture rubber balloons to see what was inside.<ref>LaFitte, Pierre. ''Une lettre du vainqueur'', ''La vie au grand air''. Paris: Pierre Laffite et Cie., 1901, p. 2.</ref> He was baptised in Valença at the {{ill|Matriz de Santa Teresa|pt|Matriz de Santa Teresa}} on 20 February 1877, by [[Teodoro Teotônio da Silva Carolina]].<ref>Archive from Igreja da Matriz de Santa Teresa. ''Livro de batismos da Matriz de Santa Teresa'', 1877, vol. 1, fol. 41.</ref>
[[File:Santos Dumont Adolescência.jpg|thumb|upright|Santos-Dumont during his teenager years, 1890s]]
[[File:Cabangu Casa de Santos Dumont.JPG|thumb|left|Santos-Dumont's birthplace and current [[Cabangu Museum]]]]

[[File:Família de Santos-Dumont.jpg|thumb|left|Some of Santos-Dumont's relatives: (left to right) Maria Rosalina, Virgínia, Gabriela, Santos-Dumont, Francisca, Amália (sister-in-law), and her husband Henrique.<ref name=InfeAd>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cabangu.com.br/pai_da_aviacao/7-pessoa/pg07.htm|title=Família, Infância, e Adolescência|access-date=2021-04-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211155219/http://www.cabangu.com.br/pai_da_aviacao/7-pessoa/pg07.htm|archive-date=2021-02-11|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

[[File:Coffe plantation (My Airships p25).png|thumb|upright|Railway in the coffee plantation]]

In 1879, the Dumonts sold their farm in [[Valença, Rio de Janeiro]], and settled in Sítio do Cascavel, in [[Ribeirão Preto]], where they bought the Arindeúva Farm,<ref name=Barros2006>{{Cite book|last=Barros|first=Henrique Lins de|url=https://portal.cbpf.br/downloads/divulgacao-cientifica/livros/SantosDumont_English.pdf|title=Santos-Dumont and the Invention of the Airplane|date=2006|page=24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210427013011/https://portal.cbpf.br/downloads/divulgacao-cientifica/livros/SantosDumont_English.pdf|archive-date=27 April 2021|language=en|publisher=CBPF|location=Rio de Janeiro|isbn=85-85752-17-3|translator=Maria Cristina Ramalho Ardoy}}</ref>{{rp|p=7}}{{efn|It was later called Dumont Farm and was bought by an English syndicate.<ref name="CENDOC-2021">{{Cite book |author=CENDOC |year=2021 |title=E o mundo falava de Santos-Dumont |trans-title=And the whole world was talking about Santos-Dumont |publisher=Centro de Documentação da Aeronáutica |location=Rio de Janeiro |isbn=978-65-994256-0-8 |pages=104 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301113520/https://www2.fab.mil.br/cendoc/images/Revistas/livrosd2021.pdf|archivedate=2022-03-01 |url=https://www2.fab.mil.br/cendoc/images/Revistas/livrosd2021.pdf |access-date=15 April 2025 |lang=pt-br}}{{rp|p=13}}</ref> When they bought the farm, the family had 300 million réis and 80 slaves.<ref name=OCruzeiro1974 />{{rp|p=63}}}} of José Bento Junqueira, producing 1200 [[bushel]]s.{{efn|With 60<ref>{{cite web|url=http://globoreporter.globo.com/Globoreporter/0,19125,VGC0-2703-15280-2-246220,00.html|title=Lembranças do 'Tio Alberto'|access-date=2019-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190711192747/http://globoreporter.globo.com/Globoreporter/0,19125,VGC0-2703-15280-2-246220,00.html|archive-date=2019-07-11|url-status=live}}</ref> to 96 kilometres of track and seven locomotives.<ref name=Hoffman />{{rp|p=18}} A 1901 article in ''Le Pettit Journal'' indicated that the farm had four million coffee trees, six thousand workers, and four kilometres of railroad.{{sfn|CENDOC|2021|p=26|loc=A Obra de Santos-Dumont}}}} Until he was 10, he was taught by his older sister, Virginia.<ref name=Medeiros2006>{{Cite journal|url=http://www.sbfisica.org.br/fne/Vol7/Num2/v13a05.pdf|title=A Busca da Liberdade e a Educação Básica de Santos Dumont|language=pt-br|last=Medeiros|first=Alexandre|journal=Física na Escola|volume=7|number=2|year=2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070306160049/http://www.sbfisica.org.br/fne/Vol7/Num2/v13a05.pdf|archive-date=2007-03-06|url-status=live|pages=29–32}}</ref>{{rp|p=29}} From 10 to 12 years old{{efn|{{harvnb|Medeiros|2006}}, says that Santos-Dumont only studied at this school between the ages of 10 and 11 (1883–1884).<ref name=Medeiros2006 />{{rp|p=30}} {{harvnb|Jorge|2018}} says it was between the ages of 7 and 8.<ref name=Jorge2018>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VwxNDwAAQBAJ|title=As lutas, a glória e o martírio de Santos Dumont|first=Fernando|last=Jorge|year=2018|publisher=HarperCollins Brasil|isbn=978-85-9508-271-7|edition=1|page=512|location=Rio de Janeiro|language=pt-br}}</ref>{{rp|p=35}}}} he studied at [[Colégio Culto à Ciência]].<ref name=Barros2006 />{{rp|p=9}}<ref name=Studart2006>{{cite journal|last=Studart|first=Nelson|url=http://www1.fisica.org.br/fne/phocadownload/Vol07-Num2/v13a031.pdf|title=Cronologia de Santos Dumont|language=pt-br|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190802173444/http://www1.fisica.org.br/fne/phocadownload/Vol07-Num2/v13a031.pdf|archive-date=2019-08-02|url-status=live|journal=Física na Escola|volume=7|number=2|year=2006|pages=14–20}}</ref>{{rp|p=14}}<ref name=Medeiros2006 />{{rp|p=29}} He then attended Colégio Kopke in São Paulo, Colégio Morton, and Colégio Menezes Vieira in Rio de Janeiro,<ref name=Studart2006 />{{rp|p=14}}{{efn|The first college had strict discipline,<ref name=Medeiros2006 />{{rp|p=30}} while the others allowed a "more individualized teaching", but all were focused on the Brazilian elite.<ref name=Medeiros2006 />{{rp|p=31}}}} and later the School of Engineering from Minas, without finishing the course.<ref name=Medeiros2006 />{{rp|p=32}} He was not considered an outstanding student, studying only what interested him, and extending his studies independently in his father's library.<ref name=Medeiros2006 />{{rp|p=31}} By this time he already displayed the refined manners that would later become part of his image in France,<ref name=Medeiros2006 />{{rp|p=31}} and an introverted personality.<ref name=Medeiros2006 />{{rp|p=32}} He saw his first human flight in São Paulo at the age of 15, in 1888,{{efn|{{harvnb|Jorge|2018|p=38}} says that it happened in April 1890.}} when the aeronaut [[Stanley Spencer (aeronaut)|Stanley Spencer]] ascended in a spherical balloon and parachuted down.{{sfnm|1a1=Hoffman|1y=2010|1p=30|2a1=Jorge|2y=2018|2p=38}} After a family trip to Paris in 1891, he became interested in mechanics, especially the [[internal combustion engine]]. From then on, he never stopped searching for alternatives, receiving from the City Council of Ribeirão Preto, according to [[:wikisource:pt:Concedendo um conto de réis à Santos Dumont|Law no. 100]], of 4 November 1903, a [[Brazilian real (old)|million réis]] subsidy to continue his researches that, three years later, resulted in the creation of his aeroplane.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historica.arquivoestado.sp.gov.br/materias/anteriores/edicao12/materia02/texto02.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117132858/http://www.historica.arquivoestado.sp.gov.br/materias/anteriores/edicao12/materia02/texto02.pdf |archive-date=2012-01-17  |language=pt-br |title=Alberto 'Santos Dumont' Pai da Aviação |author=Governo de São Paulo |access-date=2008-12-24 |url-status=live }}</ref> A newspaper of the time stated that Santos-Dumont would only accept if "...that amount was intended for an aircraft contest prize."{{sfn|CENDOC|2021|p=15|loc=Santos–Dumont}}

Santos-Dumont would remember with nostalgia the times spent on his father's farm, where he enjoyed the greatest freedom:

{{Blockquote|I lived a free life there, which was indispensable to form my temperament and taste for adventure. Since childhood I had a great love for mechanical things, and like all those who have or think they have a vocation, I cultivated mine with care and passion. I always played at imagining and building little mechanical devices, which entertained me and earned me high regard in the family. My greatest joy was taking care of my father's mechanical installations. That was my department, which made me very proud.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://archive.org/details/lecturesdumont/page/n1/mode/2up|title=Notre interview de Santos Dumont|first=Frantz|last=Reichel|journal=Lecture Pour Tous|location=Paris|number=7|date=January 1914|pages=591–592|language=fr}}</ref>}}

At the age of seven Santos-Dumont was already driving the farm's trains, and at twelve he could operate a locomotive on his own, but the speed achievable on land was not enough for him.<ref name=Dumont1986>{{Cite book|url=http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/download/texto/vo000004.pdf|title=Os Meus Balões|language=pt-br|year=1986|first=Alberto Santos|last=Dumont|location=Brasília|publisher=Fundação Rondon|translator=A. de Miranda Bastos|page=244|isbn=85-278-0002-0|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118101006/http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/download/texto/vo000004.pdf|archive-date=2007-11-18|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|p=23}}<ref name=NECSD>{{cite web|url=http://www.taller-comunicacao.com/santos-dumont/?p=807|title=Nossa Entrevista com Santos-Dumont|language=pt-br|access-date=2019-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923034519/http://www.taller-comunicacao.com/santos-dumont/?p=807|archive-date=2018-09-23}}</ref> By observing coffee machines he deduced that oscillatory machines wore out more, while those with circular motion were more efficient.<ref name=Barros2006a>{{cite journal|last=Barros|first=Henrique Lins|title=Alberto Santos-Dumont: pioneiro da aviação|url=https://periodicos.uninove.br/exacta/article/view/643/612|language=pt-br|journal=Exacta|location=São Paulo|volume=4|number=1|year=2006a|pages=35–46|doi=10.5585/exacta.v4i1.643|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903232805/https://periodicos.uninove.br/exacta/article/view/643/612|archive-date=2021-09-03|url-status=live|issn=1678-5428|doi-access=free}}</ref>{{rp|p=36}}

By reading the works of [[Jules Verne]], with whose fictional heroes he was later compared<ref name=DaCosta2016>{{Cite book|url=http://www.sportsinbrazil.com.br/livros/santos_dumont_heroi_olimpico_brasil.pdf|last1=DaCosta|first1=L.P.|last2=Miragaya|first2=A.|year=2016|title=Santos-Dumont, Aviador Esportista: O Primeiro Herói Olímpico do Brasil|trans-title=Santos-Dumont, Sport Aviator: The First Olympic Hero of Brazil|language=pt, en|publisher=Engenho Arte e Cultura|isbn=978-85-69153-00-9|page=108|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181227030132/http://www.sportsinbrazil.com.br/livros/santos_dumont_heroi_olimpico_brasil.pdf|archive-date=2018-12-27|url-status=live|location=Rio de Janeiro|ol=32239895M}}</ref>{{rp|p=45}} and who he would meet in adulthood,<ref name=OCruzeiro19741002>{{Cite magazine|url=http://memoria.bn.br/docreader/DocReader.aspx?bib=003581&pagfis=193906|title=Vida e Morte do Pai da Aviação (II)|last=Morel|first=Edmar|magazine=O Cruzeiro|date=1974-10-02|issue=40|volume=46|pages=52–57|ref={{harvid|''O Cruzeiro'', 2 de outubro de|1974}}|lang=pt-br}}</ref>{{rp|p=57}} Santos-Dumont got the desire to conquer the air.<ref name=NECSD /><ref name=DaCosta2016 />{{rp|p=98}} The submarines, balloons, ocean liners, and vehicles that the novelist envisioned in his works made a deep impression on the boy's mind. Years later, as an adult, he still remembered the adventures lived in imagination:

{{Blockquote|With [[Captain Nemo]] and his shipwrecked guests I explored the depths of the sea in that first of all submarines, the Nautilus. With [[Phileas Fogg]] I went round the world in eighty days. In "Screw Island" and "[[The Steam House]]" my boyish faith leaped out to welcome the ultimate triumphs of an automobilism that in those days had not as yet a name. With Hector Servadoc I navigated the air.<ref name=Dumont1904>{{Cite book|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42344/42344-h/42344-h.htm|title=My Airships|date=1904|location=London |publisher=Grant Richards |last=Dumont|first=Alberto Santos}}</ref>{{rp|p=22}}}}

Technology fascinated him. He began building kites and small aeroplanes powered by a propeller driven by twisted rubber springs,<ref name=Hoffman />{{rp|p=29}} as he says in a commentary on the letter he received the day he won the Deutsch prize, recalling his childhood: "This letter brings back to me the happiest days of my life, when I exercised myself in making light aeroplanes with bits of straw, moved by screw propellers driven by springs of twisted rubber, or ephemeral silk-paper balloons." (Santos-Dumont)<ref name=Dumont1904 />{{rp|p=21}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://especiais.santosdumont.eptv.g1.globo.com/onde-tudo-comecou/infancia/default.aspx|title=Santos Dumont – Onde tudo começou: Infância|language=pt-br}}</ref> Every year, on 24 June he would fill whole fleets of tiny silk balloons over the bonfires of [[Midsummer#Brazil|St. John]], to watch them climbing into the sky.<ref>Dumont, Alberto Santos. ''Os meus balões''. Brasília: Alhambra, 3a edição, s/d, p. 23.</ref>