Valérie André, aviator and parachutist who became France’s first female general, dies aged 102

PARIS (AP) — Valérie André, a French aviator and parachutist who became the first woman to become a general officer in France, has died. She was 102.

France’s ministry of armies and the French presidency said André died on Jan. 21.

André, who had a medicine degree and flew for the first time as a teenager, combined her two passions and became a military doctor, serving in Indochina and later in Algeria.

“Despite the danger, exhaustion, harsh conditions, and the life-or-death pressure that permeated this environment – or perhaps precisely because of these challenges – Valérie André developed a passion for this extreme mission, staying as close as possible to the soldiers she served,” the French presidency said.

“To support them even more effectively, she trained as a helicopter pilot. Her flight log quickly filled with hundreds of casualty evacuations, first in the Vietnamese theater and later in Algeria.”

Known as “Madame Ventilator,” she left for the war during the French occupation of Indochina as part of the expeditionary corps, serving as a medical captain.

Initially assigned to the My Tho hospital in 1949, she later became a neurosurgery assistant in Saigon. It was at this time that she made her first military parachute jumps to help the wounded in the most isolated areas.

“There are no perilous missions, only missions that must be accomplished at all costs, because human life is at stake,” she was quoted as saying in a statement by the ministry of armies.

At the end of the Algeria War, André returned to France to continue her career as a medical officer and championed the role of women in the military, paving the way for their greater inclusion.

She was the first woman in France to reach the rank of general officer, ultimately wearing the three stars of Inspector General of the Army Medical Corps.