It’s likely you’ve never heard of Michel and Edmond Navratil, the only children to have survived the sinking of the Titanic. How they ended up on the ship is a familiar scenario. Their father essentially kidnapped them from his ex-wife in France, and boarded the ship in an attempt to flee the country. He assumed a pseudonym and gave Michel and Edmond aliases as well: Lolo and Mamon. Though their father died in the accident, both boys survived. In fact, they managed to get onto the very last emergency raft. Because they were so young, they were unable to assist officials in identifying them. Meanwhile, in France, their mother, who had no idea her sons were even on the Titanic, saw their photo in a newspaper and was reunited with them in the United States shortly thereafter. The family sailed back to France on the Oceanic. Michel went on to become a professor psychology and get married. He died in 2001 at the age of 92. Edmond became and architect and got married. He fought with the French Army during World War II and was captured and made a prisoner-of-war. He managed to escape from the camp, but his health suffered and he died in the early 1950s at the age of 43.
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| Edmond, Marcelle and Michel Navratil |
