Léopoldine Doualla-Bell Smith
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Léopoldine Doualla-Bell Smith is the world's first black flight attendant.[1] She was born in Cameroon, and was a princess of the royal Douala family of Cameroon.[2] She took her first flight as a flight attendant (with Union Aéromaritime de Transport) in 1957.[1] In 1960 she was invited to move to Air Afrique; she was then the only qualified African person in French aviation, and thus became the first employee hired by Air Afrique.[3] She shortly became Air Afrique's first cabin chief.[3] She flew for twelve years.[2] She was honored at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Black Flight Attendants of America at Los Angeles International Airport’s Flight Path Museum.[2]
