Roland Garros

Eugène Adrien Roland Georges Garros (French: [ʁɔlɑ̃ ɡaʁos]; 6 October 1888 – 5 October 1918) was a French aviation pioneer and fighter pilot. A self-taught pilot, he performed many early aviation feats such as the first-ever airplane crossing of the Mediterranean Sea in 1913. He later joined the French Army and became one of the earliest fighter pilots during First World War.

Born in Saint-Denis, Réunion, Garros developed an interest in aviation from a young age. He began his career in 1909, flying a Santos-Dumont Demoiselle, and gained his licence a year later. Following successful performances in several air races and multiple altitude records, Garros achieved international fame in 1913 for making the first non-stop flight across the Mediterranean Sea, from southern France to Tunisia in a Morane-Saulnier G.

Garros enlisted as a reconnaissance pilot in the French Army on the outbreak of the First World War. He helped develop the first forward-firing machine gun mounted on a combat aircraft, with which he shot down his first German aircraft in early April 1915. In mid-April, after two more air victories, Garros' plane came down behind German lines due to engine trouble, and he spent nearly three years as a prisoner of war. He escaped captivity in early 1918 and rejoined the French Army, but was shot down and killed in the Ardennes later that year.

In 1928, the Roland Garros tennis stadium in Paris opened and was named in Garros' memory. The French Open, held in the stadium, officially takes his name.