Raymond Orteig
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CharlesLindbergh-RaymondOrteig.jpg
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Charles Lindbergh (left) and Raymond Orteig
Raymond Orteig was the New York City hotel owner who offered the Orteig Prize for the first non-stop transatlantic flight between New York and Paris.
Orteig was from France but moved to New York in 1912. He started working as a bus boy and cafe manager but soon managed to acquire two hotels (the Hotel Lafayette and the Brevoort Hotel in Greenwich Village).
He offered the prize in 1919 after attending a dinner honouring the American ace Eddie Rickenbacher. Many of the speeches involved Franco-American friendship and Rickenbacher had looked forward to the day that the two countries were linked by air. This inspired Orteig to offer the prize.
The prize was won in 1927 by Charles Lindbergh.