Joseph Crocé-Spinelli

Joseph Crocé-Spinelli (French: Joseph Eustache Crocé-Spinelli; 10 July 1845 – 15 April 1875) was a French engineer, aeronaut and inventor, one of the pioneers of aviation. Along with Gaston Tissandier and Théodore Sivel, he achieved a record altitude of 8,600 metres (28,200 ft) in the gas balloon Zénith.

Joseph Crocé-Spinelli
Born	Joseph Eustache Crocé-Spinelli (1845-07-10)July 10, 1845 Monbazillac, France
Died	April 15, 1875(1875-04-15) (aged 29) Ciron (Indre), France
Resting place	Père Lachaise Cemetery
Nationality	French
Citizenship	France
Awards	Grand Prize of Mathematical Sciences (1875)
Scientific career
Fields	Aviation, Meteorology

Biography

Photograph of Joseph Crocé-Spinelli (taken by French photographer Pierre Petit)

Joseph Crocé-Spinelli was born on July 10, 1845, in the town of Monbazillac, in the French region of New Aquitaine, at the family estate of jeweler Isidore-Achille Crocé-Spinelli and Marie Louise Lacour. He had a brother, Raphael Crocé-Spinelli, and one of his cousins was the French composer Bernard Crocé-Spinelli.

He studied at the lycée Bonaparte in Paris and earned a bachelor's degree in literature and natural sciences. In 1864, he entered the Central School of Arts and Manufactures (French: École centrale des arts et manufactures), where he studied until 1867.

From 1870 to 1871, Crocé-Spinelli actively participated in the Franco-Prussian War and served in the 221st Battalion of the French army.

After the war, he engaged in scientific activities, writing and publishing several scientific articles in the field of mechanics in the French newspaper République Française. Subsequently, he became interested in aviation and joined the newly established French Society of Aerial Navigation (French: Société Française de Navigation Aérienne). He actively participated in the publication of the scientific journal L'Aéronaute.

Between 1873 and 1875, he conducted four high-altitude flights in the balloons Polar Star (French: L'Étoile polaire) and Zenith (French: Le Zénith).

Scientific balloon flights

Flight of Joseph Crocé-Spinelli and Théodore Sivel in the balloon L'Etoile Polaire, March 22, 1874

Page from the journal L'Aéronaute with an article by Dr. Félix Petard on the flight of Polar Star, April 26, 1873

First flight

In the spring of 1873, the French Society of Aerial Navigation organized its first scientific expedition in the balloon Polar Star (French: L'Étoile polaire). Five scientists expressed their desire to participate in this expedition, including Joseph Crocé-Spinelli. His companions were Alphonse Penaud, Théodore Sivel, Claude Jobert, and Dr. Félix Petard. The flight took place on April 26, 1873, and Polar Star reached an altitude of 4,600 metres (15,100 ft) before successfully landing near Paris.

During the flight, the scientists conducted a series of meteorological and aeronautical experiments, for which Alphonse Penaud specially developed the instruments. Among them was a differential barometer with a rubber membrane, used for the first time, which could measure the altitude and rate of ascent and descent of the balloon. This device later became popular among aeronauts and was indispensable in many scientific flights.

Another result of the Polar Star expedition was a scientific article by Dr. Félix Petard, published in the journal L'Aéronaute. In this article, Petard described his observations of the physiological and psychological states of the crew members during the flight in detail. He observed changes in mood and behavior in each scientist with altitude and made assumptions about how altitude affected these changes. Regarding Joseph Crocé-Spinelli's behavior and mood during the Polar Star flight, Dr. Petard wrote:

"Mr. J. Crocé-Spinelli is blond, with a phlegmatic-melancholic temperament, usually prone to bronchitis... The second phenomenon I observed was the oppression experienced by Mr. Crocé-Spinelli at an altitude of about 3,500 meters. I recall that Mr. Crocé-Spinelli is prone to bronchitis. Mr. Penaud also felt oppression, but to a much lesser degree than Mr. Crocé-Spinelli. Other passengers did not experience this... Later, we all felt a ringing in our ears, which Mr. Penaud first noticed at an altitude of 2,700 meters. We all felt it at about the same time, but with very noticeable differences in the intensity of the sensation. For Mr. Crocé-Spinelli, it manifested as acute pain, so persistent that on the railway, even after our return, he still complained of ear pain..."

Second flight

Barometric chamber with oxygen Paul Bert, where Sivel and Crocé-Spinelli underwent training before their flight to 7,300 m (from the journal La Nature № 238 for December 22, 1877)

Sivel (left) and Crocé-Spinelli (right) prepare to inhale oxygen during the flight on the balloon Zenith, April 15, 1875 (from the journal La Nature № 100, May 1, 1875)

On March 22, 1874, Crocé-Spinelli and Sivel made their second flight in the balloon Polar Star.

In this flight, for the first time, on the advice of physiologist Paul Bert, the scientists took small soft balloons with oxygen supplies. Before the flight, Crocé and Sivel trained in Paul Bert's special barometric chamber. In the chamber, all the oxygen was pumped out for a certain time, and one could breathe only through a special tube connected to the soft balloon. This experiment allowed checking the aeronauts' behavior at altitudes with extreme atmospheric pressure and lack of oxygen in the air.

This unusual way of breathing freely even where there was practically no oxygen allowed the scientists to conduct meteorological research and control the balloon. As a result, the Polar Star rose to a then-record height of 7,300 metres (24,000 ft).

During their research, Crocé-Spinelli and Sivel measured the air temperature at an altitude of over 7,000 metres (23,000 ft), which was −24 °C (−11 °F). They also observed their own physiological reactions to the rarefied atmosphere. Specifically, they noticed a sharp increase in pulse and changes in the color of their face and mucous membranes.

The flight on March 22, 1874, received widespread media coverage, making Joseph Crocé-Spinelli and Théodore Sivel famous in France and Europe. This enabled the scientists to quickly find support and funding for their next aerial expedition.

Third flight

Joseph Crocé-Spinelli made his third flight on March 23-24, 1875, when the balloon Zénith flew from Paris to Arcachon over 22 hours and 40 minutes. This flight broke all world duration records, surpassing the 18-hour flight by the English aeronaut Charles Green made in 1836. The record of the Zenith was only broken eleven years later, in September 1886, when the Frenchman Henri Hervé made a 24-hour flight from France to England in the balloon Le National.

On March 23, Zenith was prepared for flight at the La Villette gas plant, and at 18:20 in the evening, it successfully took off. On board the balloon were five aeronauts: Théodore Sivel, acting as captain, Joseph Crocé-Spinelli, conducting scientific experiments with a spectrograph, Claude Jobert, a mechanic and experienced balloonist, and the two brothers Gaston and Albert Tissandier, who were conducting their own scientific experiments. Albert Tissandier made drawings of all the landscapes the aeronauts saw during the flight.

The balloon "Zenith" flies from Paris to Arcachon with five aeronauts on board, March 23-24, 1875 (drawing by Albert Tissandier)

Lunar halo and luminescent cross observed by the aeronauts during the flight of "Zenith" from Paris to Arcachon, March 23-24, 1875 (drawing by Albert Tissandier)

Gaston Tissandier later described the first hours of the flight:

We are rising into the air, crossing Paris, where thousands of lights twinkle like the stars in the sky. We slowly pass over the Tuileries Garden, the dome of the Invalides, and soon the spectacle of the great metropolis disappears from the horizon, giving way to no less grandiose rural landscapes... Tidying up the basket, methodically arranging the ballast bags, we begin to conduct our experiments. Sivel takes care of determining our course using a compass and a 800-meter-long line that drags on the ground and always follows the rear of the basket. Crocé-Spinelli begins his spectroscopic observations, using two magnificent instruments of different models. Jobert throws printed leaflets overboard, intended to be collected by local residents on the ground and returned to Paris. They indicate the barometric pressure, temperature, and state of the sky at all points over which "Zenith" flew. Albert Tissandier sketches aerial landscapes from nature. He particularly recreates the amazing sight of the moon's deformation, which has just appeared over the clouds...

Flight of "Zenith" over the Gironde, March 24, 1875 (drawing by Albert Tissandier)

All night, the aeronauts flew at an altitude of 700 metres (2,300 ft)–1,000 metres (3,300 ft) above the ground, slowly moving towards the ocean coast in southwestern France. They did not forget to conduct their scientific experiments: Crocé-Spinelli, along with Jobert, experimented with Alphonse Penaud's navigation device, the measurements of which allowed them to determine the altitude and speed of the balloon. A post-flight check of this device's data confirmed the ideal accuracy of the obtained numbers.

At dawn, Zenith reached the town of La Rochelle on the ocean coast, and around 10 am began its flight over the Gironde. Gaston Tissandier described this event as follows:

This crossing of the great river, performed at 10 am, with a view of the Cordouan Lighthouse, is undoubtedly one of the most touching moments of our journey. "Zenith" enters the Gironde at its widest point, passes there majestically, and reaches the other shore only after 35 minutes. As we hover over the river, sailing boats course below. Two steamships pass just below our basket, and at this moment, they raise their tricolor flags three times. In response to this sympathetic greeting, we wave our handkerchiefs...

After crossing the Gironde, Zenith flew another 6 hours along the ocean coast, and only around 5 pm did the aeronauts successfully land on a clearing in a pine forest near Arcachon. A few minutes after landing, local shepherds "on stilts and with joyful and amazed shouts" arrived. They helped pack up the equipment and the balloon and transported them to the town.

Diagram of the route of the record flight of "Zenith" from Paris to Arcachon, March 23-24, 1875 (from Gaston Tissandier's book "History of my flights")

Fourth flight

Inspired by the success of the record flight from Paris to Arcachon, Crocé-Spinelli, Sivel, and Gaston Tissandier immediately began preparing for a new expedition. The goal of the new flight in the Zenith was to reach the highest altitude possible in a balloon. In accordance with this goal, the scientists prepared their equipment.

Three small balloons with a breathing oxygen mixture containing 70 percent oxygen were attached to the balloon's basket's suspension ring. Two aneroid barometers were placed on ropes running from the basket to the ring. One measured pressure up to 4,000 metres (13,000 ft), the other from 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) to 9,000 metres (30,000 ft). Next to them were several thermometers, one of which, an "alcohol" thermometer, could record low temperatures down to −40 °C (−40 °F). Above the thermometers, in a closed box filled with sawdust, was a special barometer for recording the maximum height of the balloon's ascent. This device consisted of 8 mercury barometric tubes and was designed by the French astronomer and scientist Pierre Janssen. Sivel attached a thick mattress stuffed with straw to the basket's bottom to cushion the impact when the balloon landed.

At the crash site of the balloon "Zenith," April 15, 1875, Ciron (Indre), France

On April 15, 1875, at 11:52 am, Zenith with Crocé-Spinelli, Sivel, and Tissandier on board, took off and began its ascent. Gaston Tissandier later recalled that at an altitude of 300 metres (980 ft), Théodore Sivel suddenly exclaimed with joy:

Well, we are off, friends! Look at our "Zenith"—how beautiful it is!

At an altitude of 3,300 metres (10,800 ft), a large volume of hydrogen suddenly escaped from the "appendix" of the balloon, which was directly above the aeronauts' heads. This had no effect on Sivel and Tissandier, but Crocé-Spinelli made the following entry in his diary:

11:57 am, H. 500, Temperature +1, slight earache. A little depressed. It's the gas

Occupied with their scientific observations, the aeronauts did not pay attention to their own bodies' reactions to the lack of oxygen. However, at an altitude of 5,300 metres (17,400 ft), the severely rarefied air had already taken its toll, and Tissandier, checking his friends' condition, recorded the following note in his notebook:

Crocé - pulse 120 beats per minute, Sivel - 150 beats

Page from Crocé-Spinelli's diary with his last entry made at an altitude of 3700 meters

Joseph Crocé-Spinelli, Théodore Sivel, and Gaston Tissandier in the basket of "Zenith" after losing consciousness due to lack of oxygen at an altitude of over 8000 meters (drawing from Gaston Tissandier's book "History of my flights," 1868)

Diagram of the route of the flight of "Zenith" from Paris to Ciron, April 15, 1875

Around 1 pm, Zenith reached an altitude of 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) and drifted over cirrus clouds, consisting of fine dispersed ice particles. Suffering from lack of air, Tissandier took a few breaths of the oxygen mixture, feeling the beneficial effects of the oxygen. Shivering from the cold, he wrote with a shaky hand:

Hands numb. Feeling good. Fog and small rounded cirrus clouds on the horizon. We are ascending. Crocé has difficulty breathing. We inhale oxygen. Sivel closes his eyes. Crocé also closes his eyes…temperature – 10…Sivel throws ballast…Sivel throws ballast again

Later, Tissandier recalled that somewhere at an altitude of 7,500 metres (24,600 ft), Sivel asked him twice if he should throw off some more ballast, and after receiving the reply "Do what you want" from Tissandier, Sivel cut off several more bags of sand. At this time, Crocé-Spinelli sat at the bottom of the basket, holding the tube from the oxygen cylinder in his hand, looking very depressed. Tissandier describes the subsequent events as follows:

Soon I was so weak that I couldn't even turn my head to look at my friends. I wanted to grab the oxygen hose, but I couldn't lift my hands. However, my head was still working. I continued to watch the barometer, and as before, I did not take my eyes off the needle, which soon approached the number 290, then 280 millimeters, and began to pass beyond it. I wanted to shout: "We are at an altitude of 8000 meters!" But my tongue seemed paralyzed. Suddenly, my eyes closed, and I lost consciousness. This happened around 1:30 pm. At 2:08 pm, I came to my senses for a minute. The balloon was rapidly descending. I had enough strength to cut the ballast bag's rope, slow down the descent, and write these lines: "We are descending, temperature -8 degrees, I am dropping ballast, pressure 315. We are descending. Sivel and Crocé are still unconscious at the bottom of the basket. We are descending very fast." I barely had time to write these lines when I was seized with trembling, and I lost consciousness again, this time for a long time. It seemed to me that I was falling asleep forever.

After Crocé-Spinelli threw off some ballast, Zenith slowed its descent and again slowly rose to an altitude of over 8,000 metres (26,000 ft). At 3:30 pm, Tissandier regained consciousness, feeling dizzy and weak. Opening his eyes, he saw that the balloon was again descending at a terrifying speed. The basket was rocking violently, describing large circles in the air.

Tissandier crawled on his knees to his friends and began to wake them, calling, "Sivel! Crocé! Wake up!" But they lay motionless at the bottom of the basket. Gathering the remnants of his strength, Tissandier tried to lift them, but the faces of the aeronauts had already darkened, their eyes were cloudy, and their mouths were bloody. Tissandier recalled the last moments of the Zenith flight as follows:

I felt a terrible wind blowing from below upward. We were still at an altitude of 7000 meters. There were still two ballast bags left in the basket, which I threw out. Soon the ground approached, and I wanted to grab a knife to cut the anchor rope, but I couldn't find it. I was like a madman, shouting all the time: "Sivel! Sivel!" Fortunately, I managed to take the knife in my hand and disconnect the anchor. The impact with the ground was extremely strong. It seemed that the balloon burst, and I thought it would not move again, but the wind was very strong and quickly carried it away. The anchor did not work, the basket was dragged across the field. My unfortunate friends' bodies were shaking here and there. I thought they would fall out of the basket at any moment. However, I was able to grab the pull cord, and soon the balloon deflated, then hit a tree and burst. It was four o'clock in the afternoon…

Zenith crashed into a field near the town of Ciron (Indre), located 250 kilometres (160 mi) from Paris. The data from the special altitude barometer was checked at the Sorbonne physics laboratory and showed that the maximum altitude Zenith reached during its flight was between 8,540 metres (28,020 ft) and 8,600 metres (28,200 ft). Joseph Crocé-Spinelli and Théodore Sivel died during the flight from asphyxia, while Gaston Tissandier miraculously survived but partially lost his hearing.

Funeral

Bodies of Crocé-Spinelli and Sivel being brought into a barn near the crash site of the balloon "Zenith," April 15, 1875

Funeral of Joseph Crocé-Spinelli and Théodore Sivel in Paris, April 20, 1875

After the crash of Zenith near the town of Ciron (Indre), Gaston Tissandier, still in shock, realized that his friends had died during the flight. Local residents began to flock to the crash site, increasing in number. To avoid undue curiosity from the crowd, Tissandier decided to move Crocé-Spinelli and Sivel's bodies to the nearest barn and locked them there. After that, Gaston was taken to the house of one of the farmers of Count de Bondi, on whose land the balloon had crashed. Tissandier was so exhausted that he almost immediately fell asleep and slept until dawn.

In the morning, he wrote a long letter to the president of the French Society of Aerial Navigation Hervé Mangon and sent it to Paris. In the letter, Gaston described in detail everything he remembered about the tragic flight of Zenith. This letter was later reprinted by all leading newspapers in France and Europe.

The tragic news of the crash of Zenith did not reach Paris quickly. The families of the deceased scientists were informed only 18 hours after the crash, and on April 16, the evening newspapers of Paris reported the sad news on their pages. Practically all the major French newspapers immediately sent their reporters to the crash site, and by the morning of April 17, Gaston Tissandier was meeting them and his brother Albert at the local train station.

On April 18, the bodies of Crocé-Spinelli and Sivel were placed in metal coffins, loaded onto a cart, and taken to the local train station for transport to Paris. Gaston Tissandier walked alongside the cart carrying his two friends all the way to the station.

On April 19, a meeting of the French Academy of Sciences was held, at which its president Edmond Frémy gave a special speech. He called Crocé-Spinelli and Sivel "martyrs of science" and added that they were "two brave warriors who fell on the battlefield of science".

The funeral of Sivel and Crocé-Spinelli took place on April 20. Initially, around 500-600 people gathered at the Orléans train station in Paris at 10:30 am, where the bodies of the deceased scientists had arrived. At 11:15 am, Protestant pastor (the deceased were Protestants) Auguste-Scipion Dide gave a short speech, which made a strong impression on those present. The procession then made its way along the Boulevard Contrescarpe, the Place de la Bastille, and the Rue de la Paix to the Père Lachaise Cemetery. All the way to the cemetery, the crowd of people who came to say goodbye to the scientists grew, and at the funeral ceremony, the local police counted about 5000-6000 people. The French newspaper L'Aeronaute reported a different number, claiming that 20,000 people attended the funeral.

It is known that the funeral was attended by many famous French politicians, scientists, writers, and scholars. Among them were Pierre Danfert-Rochereau, Paul Bert, Jean-Baptiste Dumas, Edmond Frémy, Ernest Picard, Henri Giffard, Henri Dupuy de Lôme, and others.

Memorials

Sculptural composition of the tomb of Joseph Crocé-Spinelli and Théodore Sivel (sculptor: Alphonse Dumilatre).

Memorial plaque installed in 1881 at the crash site of the balloon Zenith (designed by Albert Tissandier)

After the funeral of Crocé-Spinelli and Sivel, the French Society of Aerial Navigation and several major newspapers announced a public fundraising campaign to help the families of the deceased and to install a memorial at the crash site of the balloon. This monument, designed by Albert Tissandier, was solemnly unveiled on March 25, 1881. It took the form of a large stone obelisk. On April 4, 2017, it was added to France's historical memory list.

In 1878, a sculptural composition depicting the scientists was ceremoniously installed at the Père Lachaise Cemetery. The composition was created by the French sculptor Alphonse Dumilatre. According to the sculptor's idea, Crocé-Spinelli and Sivel lie side by side, holding hands. This pose was how their bodies were found by local peasants, the first to arrive at the Zenith crash site. This unique sculpture on the scientists' tomb attracts thousands of tourists who visit the Père Lachaise Cemetery every year.

Title page of the musical composition by Adolphe Perrot and Robert Planquette Le Zénith

Concert and exhibition hall Le Zénith in La Villette Park, Paris

Memorial plaque on Joseph Crocé-Spinelli Street in Paris

The crash of Zenith and the French poet and future Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Sully Prudhomme to write the poem Le Zenith.

The crash of Zenith so moved the French community that in the first years after the tragedy, several operatic compositions were created in honor of Crocé-Spinelli and Sivel, performed during theatrical performances. The most famous of these were: Le Zenith (lyrics: Adolphe Perrot, music: Robert Planquette) and Les martyrs du Zénith (lyrics: Julien Foc, music: Jacob Jules).

In 1983, the French politician and then Minister of Culture Jack Lang decided to design and build a large concert and exhibition hall outside of Paris. The chosen location for the construction was the La Villette Park. Since the Zenith balloon had once taken off from this park, the concert hall was named in its honor, Le Zénith. Later, this name was registered as a trademark, and the concept of building large concert and exhibition halls called Le Zénith was expanded throughout France. As of 2021, 17 such concert halls have been built and are operational across the country.

In the 14th arrondissement of Paris, a street is named in honor of Joseph Crocé-Spinelli. Additionally, a college in the 14th arrondissement of Paris is named after the scientist.