Maurice Farman was born in 1878. With his brother Henri Farman, he made his first flight in a plane in 1908. The plane they built the following year flew a record distance of 160 km (100 miles). Four years later, the two brothers started their own aviation company at Boulogne-sur-Seine.

Two of the company's planes, the Farman MF-7 and the Farman MF-II, were popular Allied reconnaissance craft during the early stages of the First World War. Other aircraft produced during this period included the Farman HF-20, Farman F-40 and the Farman F-50. In 1917 the Farman brothers built the first long-distance passenger plane, the Goliath. Maurice Farman died in 1958.