When I hear the names Myriam Stefford and Baron Biza, I just can't believe that Hollywood hasn't produced a movie about this handsome and glamorous couple. Perhaps Stefford and Biza were not as controversial as Evita Peron or Ernesto"Che" Guevara to have a three hour film produced about their lives, I really can't say. I can only comment from a romantic point of view, and in my opinion, this story has the makings of a true Hollywood romance film.
Swiss born, Rosa Margarita Rossi Hoffman took the pseudonym Myriam Stefford while working as an actress in theater in Vienna. In 1928, at the age of 23 while visiting the city of Venice, she met the writer and Argentine millionaire Raul Baron Biza with whom she fell in love and married in 1930. Stefford gave up her acting carreer and relocated to Argentina with her new husband. They alternated between Buenos Aires and the Sierras of Cordoba where Baron Biza owned an Estancia, "Los Cerillos" near the city of Cordoba. Baron Biza and Stefford shared a mutual lust for adventure. He introduced Stefford to the world of aviation. Prompted by a passion for flying, she earned her pilots license and became one of Argentina's first female pilots. Baron Biza gifted Myriam her very own biplane christened "The Chingolo I". Expressing a strong desire to become the first female pilot in Argentina to fly a long distance route, Myriam and her flight instructor planned a flight that would take her through 14 cities beginning on August 18th, 1931.
During the third stage of her flight in the city of JuyJuy, she flew into wire cables cutting off part of her wing during a landing procedure. A fellow pilot had offered to lend Stefford his airplane so that she could continue her flight as planned. On August 26th, 1931, two days before their first wedding anniversary, a malfunction in the engine occurred ,tragically ending Myriam Stefford's life at the age of 26.
Completely heart broken, Baron Biza hired the engineer Fausto Newton to construct a giant mausoleum in the shape of an airplane wing on his property in Cordoba. The wing which is 82 meters high with a foundation of 15 meters deep, was constructed out of cement and 170 tons of iron for support. It took 100 construction workers one year and a half to erect .
In the interior of the wing, the 406 steps lead to the top of the wing where visitors can view the surrounding landscape from the two windows built at the top of the monument. Myriam Steffords tomb and final resting place lies in a crypt several meters beneath the monument.
Rumor has it that Baron Biza had his wife's jewels and the Cruz del Sur, a 45 carat diamond placed in a silver box and buried inside of cement a few meters below the crypt.
Tragedy later followed Baron Biza until his death several years later by suicide. If you google Raul Baron Biza you can find out more about his turbulent life after Stefford's death. (juicy Hollywood material)
The Monument is really a majestic sight to see and not to be missed if you are traveling in these neck of the woods.
The Myriam Stefford Monument is located on Route 5 between Alta Gracia and Cordoba. If you look carefully, at night, you can see the the tail lights, a subtle red beacon glowing on the wing.
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Dear Silvia,
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting story and you are completely right that this should definitely be made into a movie!
Enjoy your day there in beautiful Alta Gracia.
does you b and b have a website?! we're arriving in alta gracia tomorrow and were wondering if you have availability? if you could email me at rosedickers@hotmail.com that would be brilliant!
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