gifted and serious student who advanced quickly so that in October 1899, when he was just sixteen, he left his native Brulhois area and travelled almost to enroll at the 'Institute of Arts et Métiers' in Aix-en-Provence where he became a Gadz'Art, the nickname given to the students and alumni of the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers (ENSAM), a prestigious university (grande ecole) specialising in engineering. At the age of nineteen, in 1902, he became a qualified Gadz'Art, an engineer of 'Arts and Crafts' (Ingénieur des Arts et Métiers) and moved to Paris. In December 1902 Lemartin met aviation enthusiast Louise Soriano, who had divorced the Comte Charles de Lambert and married Ricardo Soriano von Hermansdorff Sholtz, Marquis de Ivanrey. Lemartin and Louise worked together during their joint airship project and subsequently married, upon which he adopted her daughter Jane (or Jeanne) de Lambert from her first marriage. Louise died in December 1907 and is buried in Dunes. Lemartin then married Madeleine, née Baas, and they had three children: Louise, Simone and Léone. Jane de Lambert also grew up in the family. After his death, Madeleine married his brother Albert and had two more children, Maurice and Roger. Airship project Lemartin had an early interest in ballooning and, learning from Alberto Santos-Dumont, he began to build an airship in collaboration with the Spanish aristocrat, financier, engineer, inventor and adventurer Ricardo Soriano von Hermansdorff Sholtz. The project failed due to a fire, so Lemartin applied to the 'L'École Duvignau', but without success. Gnome years In the early 1900s, Lemartin started work at the automobile manufacturer Charron, based in Puteaux Paris. He later moved to E.N.V., and later worked for Gabriel Voisin on the structure of his early experimental glider which was towed into the air from the river Seine, flying , in 1905. Lemartin was apparently not convinced by the Voisin approach and agreed with Louis Bleriot that the engine was key to achieving powered heavier-than-air flight in a monoplane. Thus, he joined Société Des Moteurs Gnome (the Gnome motor company founded by Louis and Laurent Seguin in 1905) where he worked on their 7-cylinder Gnome Omega rotary engine project, and became a key developer of the basic idea. The Omega set a benchmark with its delivery of 50 hp (37 kW) from . He also had a special role in the company whereby he was seconded to directly support