Camille du Gast

Camille du Gast (1868 to 1942, full name Marie Marthe Camille Desinge du Gast) was a French sportswoman and one of a trio of pioneering female motoring celebrities of the Belle Epoque, alongside Helene de Rothschild and the Duchess of Uzes. Her Wikipedia lead describes a wide range of sporting pursuits: she was a balloonist, parachute jumper, fencer, tobogganist, skier, rifle and pistol shot and horse trainer, and she was the second woman to compete in an international motor race. In 1904 she became the only woman official of the Automobile Club de France, and the press called her l'Amazone and la Walkyrie de la Mecanique, the Valkyrie of the motor car. Outside sport she was a concert pianist and singer, and later became known for charity work and her campaign for animal welfare.