In St. Petersburg, Russia, the historic and religiously significant Alexander Nevsky Monastery stands as a landmark that unites history, architecture, art, and faith. Built in 1710, it has drawn countless visitors over the centuries. In 1916, an air show was held above the monastery in honor of a remarkable woman buried there — a woman who passed away at just 25 due to typhus. That flight became a milestone in Russian aviation history and today remains deeply significant in the history of women in aviation worldwide.
Lydia Vissarionovna Zvereva was Russia’s first licensed female pilot and one of the first ten women in the world to receive a pilot’s license. She is widely recognized as the world’s first female aerobatic pilot. In her short life, she achieved extraordinary milestones, becoming not only a skilled aviator but also an aircraft designer and co-owner of a factory that built airplanes — an unparalleled accomplishment for a woman of her time.
Breaking Barriers in Early Aviation
In the 1910s, aviation was still in its infancy, and crashes caused by manufacturing flaws, poor maintenance, or bad weather were common, often fatal. Despite these risks, Zvereva pursued her dream of flying. She enrolled in the Russian Aviation Association Flying School in Gatchina. Even before she took to the skies, she had gained fame as the first woman in Russia to undergo pilot training — newspapers respectfully referred to her only as “Miss Z.”
Despite several serious accidents, she was known for flying fearlessly at high altitudes. In 1911, after passing all the required exams, she received license No. 31 from the Gatchina Flying School, becoming the first woman in the Russian Empire to hold a pilot’s license — and only the eighth woman worldwide.
With her husband, fellow aviator Vladimir Slyusarenko, she earned a living performing demonstration flights. Invited to Riga, then a center of Russian aviation, the couple decided to stay and, in 1913, opened their own flight school, offering lessons at far lower rates than those elsewhere in the Empire to encourage young people to take up flying. That same year, with a military contract, they founded an aircraft assembly plant producing Farman and Morane models. Lydia herself worked as a designer in the workshop, which by 1914 was turning out one or two aircraft per month.
The First Woman Aerobatic Pilot
In 1914, during a demonstration in Riga, Zvereva performed aerobatic maneuvers in a Morane monoplane — the first woman to ever do so. Her performance thrilled audiences and earned admiration from Pyotr Nesterov, the pioneering Russian aviator credited with inventing the aerobatic loop.
War, Tragedy, and Legacy
When World War I broke out, the couple relocated their workshop to Petrograd (now St. Petersburg). The plant expanded into a military factory with 300 employees, producing aircraft for the Imperial Army. Lydia continued to perform test flights, though public airshows were suspended due to the war.
Tragically, in 1916, she contracted typhus and died at the age of 25. She was buried at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. Her funeral was marked by an aerial salute from a squadron of pilots, honoring her as a trailblazer for women in aviation. Shortly afterward, as war and revolution disrupted Russia, her factory was forced to close.
Yet Lydia Zvereva’s legacy endures. As the world’s first female aerobatic pilot and one of the earliest women to design and build aircraft, she continues to inspire female aviators and engineers. Today, her name can still be found in aviation events, city streets, and at her final resting place at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg.