Elia Antonio Liut (Fiume Veneto, March 6, 1894 - Quito, May 12, 1952) was an Italian aviator who was the first to fly across the Andes of Ecuador on 4 November 1920, where he is regarded as a national hero.

[1] At the age of 10, Liut moved to Argentina with his younger brother, following his father's emigration a few months before; he remained in South America for 8 years before returning to Italy.

[1] At the same time, the owner of the Ecuadorian newspaper "El Telégrafo", José Abel Castillo, who was informed of the event,[1] was looking for a way to increase the number of subscribers to his paper.

[1] Liut thought the idea was awful and expressed to the Board that the best way to get the plane from Guayaquil to Cuenca was to fly.

[1][clarification needed] A biography of him was written under the title of "Un as de alto vuelo" by the prestigious Ecuadorian writer and poet Luis Zúñiga.