Aimé Félix Tschiffely

Aimé Félix Tschiffely ( born May 7, 1895 in Zofingen, † January 5, 1954 in London) was a Swiss teacher, author and adventurer. Through his ride from Buenos Aires to Washington, DC he drew only the public's interest in Argentina and the United States itself, and later he came through his book Tschiffely 's Ride (1933 ) to world fame. In 1925 he began his journey with two horses of Criollo breed - Mancha ( engl. the dappled ) and Gato ( the cat dt ) - Buenos Aires, reaching 1928 about 16,000 km distance distant Washington.

Life

Tschiffely left as a young man his home town of Zofingen, first moved to Bern and finally wandered via an intermediate station in England to Argentina. There he worked as an English teacher at St. George 's College, Quilmes, near the capital, Buenos Aires and later at the Buenos Aires English High School. During the holidays, he explored the surrounding pampas, the agricultural heartland of Argentina and made ​​acquaintance with ranchers and gauchos.

In Buenos Aires he met the veterinary professor Emilio Solanet, who was a horse expert and founder of the Criollo breed book. He made Tschiffely with this archetypal Argentine horse breed known whose roots date back to the Spanish horses of the town's founder, Pedro de Mendoza and always seemed to have less added value in times of motorization their pure breeding. Tschiffely decided at the age of 30 years - driven by his love of adventure and fascinated by Solanets stories about hardship and endurance of these horses - the race to put a monument, go for a continental ride from Argentina to the United States of America. He broke on 23 April 1925 on in Buenos Aires and came three years later in September in Washington, DC on. On September 20, 1928, he rode down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York, where he ended his century ride.

After his ride Tschiffely was received, inter alia, by the President of the United States Calvin Coolidge, the National Geographic magazine devoted him a copy. In Argentina, he has since been hailed as a national hero. He wrote two books about his journey and wrote another trip descriptions as well as the biography of his friend Robert Cunninghame Graham Bontine.

He died in 1954 in London as the result of a routine operation; He was buried at La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. Since 1998, his remains rest at the Estancia El Cardal - the former lands of Emilio Solanet - near Ayacucho in the province of Buenos Aires.