Jan Lavezzari was a gifted painter, born in Paris, France from a well known architect: Emile Lavezzari.
Jan studied engineering and then moved to Berck-sur-Mer, northern France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 in 1900, where he decided to become a professional painter instead, and settled there. Jan Lavezzari produced several oil paintings that are seemingly valuable today. He also painted murals in a few local public buildings such as 'Le Casino de la Forêt' in Touquet-Paris-Plage

Le Touquet-Paris-Plage

Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, commonly referred to as Le Touquet, is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It has a population of 5,355....

, the local hospital 'L'Hôpital Maritime' -built by his father- and the town hall.

Biographers record that Jan Lavezzari liked the outdoor, adventure and that he preferred the company of fishermen, who often took him out to sea

Sea

A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...

. Jan Lavezzari is best known for his paintings, which generally portray sailboat

Sailboat

A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails. The term covers a variety of boats, larger than small vessels such as sailboards and smaller than sailing ships, but distinctions in the size are not strictly defined and what constitutes a sailing ship, sailboat, or a...

s. His engineering education in this maritime environment probably prompted him to realize that if a sail

Sail

A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...

 is placed horizontally, it could become a flying wing

Wing

A wing is an appendage with a surface that produces lift for flight or propulsion through the atmosphere, or through another gaseous or liquid fluid...

, so on February 15, 1904 at the age of 27 years, he tested a double lateen

Lateen

A lateen or latin-rig is a triangular sail set on a long yard mounted at an angle on the mast, and running in a fore-and-aft direction....

 sail hang glider from the Berck beach sand dunes.

External links

• G. Dilly, Curator of the Musée de Berck.http://www.opale-sud.com/sources/popup/musee/home.htmlhttp://www2c.ac-lille.fr/jlavezzari/jan_lavezzari.htm
• Additional art: http://membres.lycos.fr/cradc/peinture.htm, http://membres.lycos.fr/cradc/peinture.htm