Camille Jenatzy (1868, Schaerbeek – 8 December 1913, Habay la Neuve) was a
BelgianBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
race car driverAuto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.- The beginning of racing:...
. He is known for breaking the
land speed recordThe land speed record is the fastest speed achieved by any wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; what is used in practice is the Category C flying start regulations, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...
three times and being the first man to break the 100
km/hThe kilometre per hour is a unit of speed or velocity, expressing the number of kilometres traveled in one hour...
barrier.
He was nicknamed
Le Diable Rouge ("The Red Devil") after the colour of his beard .
On 17 January 1899 at
Achères, YvelinesAchères is a commune in the Yvelines department in north-central France. It is located . from the center of Paris.The commune of Achères lies on the south bank of the Seine in a loop of the river, on the edge of the Forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye...
near
ParisParis is the capital and largest city of France. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a state in Western Europe with several of its overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea,...
, he reached the speed of 66.66 km/h (41.42
mphMiles per hour is a unit of speed, measured in Imperial units expressing the number of international miles covered per hour. The higher the number, the greater the speed; a person traveling at 60 mph will travel sixty miles in that one hour.It is currently the unit used for speed limits, and...
) over the kilometer, driving a CGA Dogcart. That same day, the record was broken by
Gaston de Chasseloup-LaubatCount Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat was a French race car driver. He is known for setting the first recognised automobile land speed record on December 18, 1898 in Achères, Yvelines, using a Jeantaud electric car....
, topped on 27 January 1899 when Jenatzy achieved 80.35 km/h (49.93 mph). This record was again broken by Chasseloup-Laubat, who applied rudimentary streamlining to his
JeantaudThe Jeantaud was a French automobile manufactured in Paris from 1893 until 1906. It was the brainchild of Charles Jeantaud, a coachbuilder who built his first electric carriage in 1881. Among the vehicles he constructed was the first car to set a land speed record , as well as coupes and hansom...
. Jenatzy replied with his third and final land speed record on 29 April 1899, reaching 105.88 km/h (65.79 mph) in the electric
CITACita or CITA may refer to:* Cita Rescue mission, Nonprofit organization in Melbourne, Fl* Cita , a Mexican actor who appeared in Alcanzar una estrella* Cita Morei, women's liberation and anti-nuclear weapons activist and writer...
Nº 25
La Jamais ContenteLa Jamais Contente was the first vehicle to go over 100 km/h . It was an electric vehicle with a light alloy torpedo shaped bodywork, although the high position of the driver and the exposed chassis underneath spoiled much of the aerodynamics.The land speed record was established, according to...
, the first record over 100 km/h (60 mph).
In 1902, he lost the land speed record to
Leon SerpolletGardner-Serpollet was a French manufacturer of steam-powered cars in the early 1900s.In 1896, Leon Serpollet invented and perfected the flash boiler, which made steam a much more practical source of power for an automobile...
. Jenatzy regained the record in 1903, winning the
Gordon Bennet CupAs one of three Gordon Bennett Cups established by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., millionaire owner of the New York Herald, the automobile racing award was first given in 1900 in France....
in
AthyAthy Athy Athy ( – is a market town situated at the convergence of the River Barrow and the Grand Canal in County Kildare, Ireland, 72 kilometers southwest of Dublin....
,
IrelandIreland is the third largest island in Europe and the twentieth largest island in the world. It lies to the northwest of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland is Great Britain, separated from it by the Irish Sea. The Republic of Ireland...
, at the wheel of a
MercedesMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. It is currently a division of the parent company, Daimler AG , after previously being owned by Daimler-Benz...
, the same year.
Jenatzy died in 1913 in a
huntingHunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
accident. He went behind a bush and made animal noises as a prank on his friends who were hunting with him. It worked too well, they heard the noise and one of them, Alfred Madoux, director of the journal
L'Etoile Belge,
fired, believing it was a wild animal. When they realised it was Jenatzy, they rushed him to hospital by car; he bled to death
en route, fulfilling his own prophecy he would die in a Mercedes.