Rémy de Haenen

Who is Rémy de Haenen?

Rémy de Haenen was a French-Dutch aviator, hotelier, and mayor widely credited with opening Saint Barthélemy to the modern world. Born in London in 1916 to a Dutch father and a French mother, he trained at the École de la Marine Marchande in Le Havre and arrived in the French Antilles as a sailor in 1937. In 1946 he piloted the first airplane to land on Saint Barthélemy, touching down on the open pasture behind Saint-Jean beach that later became the island's airport. He went on to found the Compagnie Aérienne Antillaise, flying a small fleet of vintage aircraft, including a Stinson Trimotor and a Sikorsky flying boat, between islands that had never before had scheduled air service. In 1953 he built the Eden Rock hotel on the rocky outcrop dividing Saint-Jean beach, drawing early celebrity visitors such as Greta Garbo and Howard Hughes and helping establish the island's reputation as an exclusive retreat. De Haenen served as mayor of Saint Barthélemy from 1962 to 1977, overseeing the island's transition from a poor, isolated outpost to an international tourist destination. He died in 2008 after logging some 17,000 flight hours, and the island's airport was later renamed in his honor.

Sources: Grokipedia, "Eden Rock, St Barths" · WIMCO Villas, "St Barts History" · Access.sb, "Rémy de Haenen Airport, Saint Barthélemy"