Guarino Guarini - architect

Baroque master who shaped the identity of Turin

Guarini's daring geometrics brought a
new dimension to the architecture of Turin

Guarino Guarini, an architect regarded as one of the most transformative figures in the architectural history of Turin, died on this day in 1683 at the age of 59.

Guarini enjoyed the patronage of the House of Savoy from 1666 until his death, during which time he is said to have built or submitted designs for as many as six churches and chapels and five palaces in the city. He reportedly designed a gate to replace the existing Porta di Pio, although it was never actually built.

Of those projects that progressed beyond the drawing board, his Church of San Lorenzo, with its structurally daring dome, the Chapel of the Holy Shroud and the Palazzo Carignano, notable for the rhythmic curves of its facade, are regarded as his most notable achievements.

The circumstances of Guarini’s death are not documented beyond his being in Milan at the time. His presence there may have been connected with his Architettura Civile, the treatise which became a reference point for many of his architectural successors, upon which he was still working at the time of his death. 

He also remained active in the Theatine Order - he was ordained a priest in 1648 at the age of 24 - and may have been in Milan to teach or to pursue other Theatine business, the order having a tradition of architectural patronage.

Guarini was born in Modena in 1624. Coming from a religious family, Guarino and his four brothers all became novices in the Theatine Order, Guarino being despatched to serve his novitiate at the monastery of San Silvestro al Quirinale in Rome.

In the event, he stayed in Rome for nine years, learning from the most innovative Baroque architects of the period. Francesco Borromini, whose spatial complexity and elastic geometry left a lasting imprint on Guarini’s imagination, was a major influence, as to a lesser degree was Gian Lorenzo Bernini. 

He returned to Modena in 1648. He combined his duties as a priest and  a lecturer in philosophy at the Theatine College with architectural projects for the Order, beginning with the reconstruction of the Church of San Vincenzo in Modena.

The undulating facade of Guarini's Palazzo Carignano,
a Baroque masterpiece in Savoyard Turin

Guarini also worked in Messina in Sicily, where he built the façade of the Church of Santa Maria Annunziata for his Order, providing early evidence of his willingness to experiment with design. He constructed the façade diagonally to the nave, so that it could conform with the line of the street. The church was destroyed in an earthquake but drawings show plans for complex vaulting and spatial layering. 

From Messina, Guarini moved to Paris, where a number of projects showed the influence of Borromini on his construction methods. Appointed a lecturer in theology at the Theatine School in Paris, he might have stayed much longer but for disagreements over the management of funding for the Church of Sainte-Anne-la-Royale, which he had been invited to design. Instead, he left for Turin.

It was in the capital of the Duchy of Savoy that Guarini produced his greatest work, his buildings there being defined by intricate geometries, interlaced ribs, and dramatic manipulation of light.

Among the most striking examples is the Real Chiesa di San Lorenzo, a Baroque-style church adjacent to the Royal Palace of Turin, which bears influences of Borromini and Bernini. In accordance with Guarini’s ambition ‘to erect buildings that were very strong, but looked so weak as to need a miracle to keep them standing,’ the dome of San Lorenzo was a masterpiece of spatial illusion, its structure appearing to be held up by slender columns, whereas the load-bearing was really down to massive brick arches hidden from view.  Its star-like pattern of interlocking arches dissolves the boundary between structure and ornament.

Guarini's beautiful cupola in Turin's Church of
San Lorenzo seemed to defy the laws of physics

The light that floods the interior creates a luminous quality, something also characteristic of the Chapel of the Holy Shroud, a building attached to the Royal Palace, a project started after Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy, impressed with his work on the Church of San Lorenzo, named him Royal Engineer and Mathematician in May 1668.

The chapel uses stacked, progressively narrowing arches to create a soaring vertical ascent, culminating in a lantern that floods the space with symbolic light. It remains one of the most technically daring domes of the Baroque.

Yet some regard the Palazzo Carignano in Turin, which showcased Guarini’s command of undulating façades and dynamic massing, anticipating styles that would become characteristic of later Baroque and Rococo. 

Built for Emmanuel Philibert, Prince of Carignano, heir to Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy, it is regarded as one of the finest urban palaces of the second half of the 17th century in Italy.  In addition to its distinctive terracotta façade, the palace stands out for its atrium with double staircases and a double dome in the main salon. 

Guarini wrote prolifically throughout his career, producing treatises on  mathematics and astronomy as well as architecture.  He published books at the rate of one every other year and his major work, Architettura Civile, was published posthumously in 1737, bringing together previously unpublished manuscripts on architecture, surveying and drawing. 

Filippo Juvarra built
on Guarini's legacy

This text circulated widely in 18th‑century Europe and became a key reference for architects seeking alternatives to classical orthodoxy. Guarini’s influence can be seen particularly in the Central European Baroque styles that became prevalent in Bohemia, Austria and southern Germany. 

Nearer to home, Piedmontese architects such as Filippo Juvarra, responsible for the monumental Basilica of Superga and the Palazzo Madama among other great works, and later Bernardo Vittone, who built some of the finest churches not only in Turin but across the whole region,  absorbed and expanded Guarino’s geometric daring.

Guarini sits in a remarkably elevated position among the architects who shaped Turin. The buildings he created can be said to have fundamentally altered the city’s architectural language.

Where Amedeo di Castellamonte planned many of the Savoy projects, giving Turin its ordered urban structure, Guarini reimagined them, introducing spatial complexity and daring geometry.  Juvarra admired Guarini’s work and built on his legacy, while taking fewer risks, yet Vittone’s domes and lanterns would have been unthinkable without Guarini’s precedent.

The Palazzo Madama, designed by Filippo Juvara,
can be found on Turin's Piazza Castello

Travel tip:

Turin became the capital of the House of Savoy in 1562, when Duke Emmanuel‑Philibert transferred his ducal seat from Chambéry to Turin. This move marks the beginning of Turin’s transformation from a provincial stronghold into a consciously designed capital city.  Much of the architecture of Turin illustrates its rich history as the home of the Savoy Kings. In the centre of the city, Piazza Castello, with the royal palace, royal library, and Filippo Juvarra’s Palazzo Madama, which used to be where the Italian senate met, showcases some of the finest buildings in ‘royal’ Turin, including the Palazzo Reale, to which Juvarra and Amedeo di Castellamonte both contributed, and the Teatro Regio, built to Juvarra’s plans after his death. Some members of the House of Savoy are buried in Turin’s Duomo in Piazza San Giovanni, built by Amedeo de Francisco di Settignano. Guarini’s adjoining chapel, of course, is famous for being the home of the Turin shroud, which many people believe was the actual burial shroud of Jesus Christ.  At the centre of the historic city, Piazza Castello is a hub that connects Via Po, Via Roma and Via Garibaldi.

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Luigi Bartolomeo Avanzini's huge Ducal Palace,
built as a home for the Este Dukes of Modena

Travel tip:

Modena, where Guarino Guarini was born, is a city on the south side of the Po Valley in the Emilia-Romagna region.  It is known for its car industry, because Ferrari, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and Maserati have all been located there.. One of the main sights in Modena is the huge, Baroque Ducal Palace, begun by Francesco I on the site of a former castle in 1635. His architect, Luigi Bartolomeo Avanzini, created a home for him that few European princes could match at the time. In the Galleria Estense, on the upper floor of the Palazzo dei Musei in Modena, is a one-metre high bust of Francesco I d’Este, Duke of Modena, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.  The Cathedral of Modena and its bell tower, Torre della Ghirlandina, are both UNESCO World heritage sites. The tower stands more than 89 metres (292ft) tall and can be seen outside the city from all directions. Inside, there is the Sala della Secchia room, which has 15th century frescoes, and the tower also houses a copy of the oaken bucket, from the War of the Bucket referred to by Tassoni in his poem, which was fought between Modena and Bologna in 1325. The statue of Alessandro Tassoni, which stands at the foot of the tower, was sculpted by Antonio Cavazza and erected in 1860. Modena is also well known for its balsamic vinegar, while operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti and soprano Mirella Freni were both born in the city.

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More reading:

Filippo Juvarra, the architect behind the magnificent Basilica of Superga

Carlo Mollino, Turin’s 20th century ‘Renaissance man’

Alessandro Antonelli, the creator of Turin’s striking Mole Antonelliana, the tallest unreinforced brick building in the world

Also on this day:

1483: The birth of writer and diplomat Francesco Guicciardini

1779: The birth of Papal executioner Giovanni Battista Bugatti 

1853: The premiere of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera La traviata

1933: The birth of Augusto Odone, who invented ‘Lorenzo’s Oil’ for sick son

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Vincenzo Lancia - racing driver and engineer

Founder of ground-breaking car maker

Vincenzo Lancia in 1908, at the wheel
of a Fiat car at the Targa Florio race

Vincenzo Lancia, the founder of one of the most important car manufacturers in the history of Italy’s automobile industry, died on this day in 1937 in Turin.

He was only 55 years old and had suffered a heart attack, his unexpected death coming just as the aerodynamic Lancia Aprilia, second only to the 1922 Lambda among Lancia cars to have a profound impact on auto design across the world, was about to go into full production.

Vincenzo, who worked with the brilliant designer Battista 'Pinin' Farina in the later part of his career, is regarded as one of the three foundational figures of Italian car making, alongside Fiat founder Giovanni Agnelli, who was the first to manufacture cars on an industrial scale, and Enzo Ferrari, who led the way in Italy’s sports car culture.

Italy has a long tradition of stylish high-performance cars, with Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Lancia recognised as the standard bearers.

The Lancia company was founded in 1906, Vincenzo having gained experience working for Fiat, for whom he was a test driver and often drove their cars in races.

Vincenzo Lancia - often called Censin - was born in August 1881 in Fobello, a small village in a mountain valley in northern Piedmont, about 18km (11 miles) from the border with Switzerland and 26km (16 miles) west of Lago Maggiore. 

Thanks to his father, Giuseppe, who had been successful in the food canning industry, the family was comfortably off. His father had ambitions for his son to build a steady career in accountancy or the law. He studied bookkeeping at the Turin Technical School. 

Yet, as industrialisation began to expand rapidly in Italy, Vincenzo was increasingly interested in machines and the engineers who built them.

By chance, an opportunity arose for him when his father agreed to rent some property he owned in Turin to Giovanni Ceirano, a pioneering bicycle and early automobile builder, who needed premises to open a workshop. 

Vincenzo eventually persuaded his father to let him work with Ceirano, ostensibly to further his experience in accountancy. He was listed in the company's brochure in 1898 as bookkeeper.

The 1922 Lancia Lambda was the first production
car to be built with a rigid single shell body 

His real purpose was to learn about building cars, volunteering to help out as a mechanic when not needed in the office.

If he had set out somehow to put himself in the right place at the right time in the development of the Italian car industry, it could not have gone better if he had planned it.

The prototype car Ceirano produced, given the curious, English-sounding name of Welleyes, made such an impression when it was exhibited for the first time that a group of entrepreneurs looking for an opportunity to enter the fledgling automobile market proposed not only to buy the patent for the Welleyes car, but to take control of the Ceirano factory too, along with all its employees. 

The company they formed in order to do this was named Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino - FIAT.

Thus, at the age of 18, Vincenzo Lancia found himself employed by Fiat. As the Welleyes became the Fiat 4 HP, the company’s first production model, Lancia’s role was as a test driver. Soon, he began competing for the company in local races, achieving his and Fiat's first victory in the 1902 Turin Sassi- Superga race. 

His record as a competitive driver was mixed. He often set records for the fastest lap but his driving style was impetuous and he often failed to finish because of technical problems or minor accidents. 

The Fiat 4HP, the first car to bear the Fiat name
after Vincenzo Lancia joined the new company

There were some successes, although Fiat valued him mainly for his mechanical sensitivity and his ability to diagnose faults as he drove at speed. His feedback helped refine early Fiat models.

In the meantime, in partnership with Claudio Fogolin, a friend and fellow Fiat driver, Vincenzo had in 1906 founded his own car manufacturing, under the Lancia name, in Turin, operating from a small workshop on Via Ormea, at the corner of Via Donizetti, in the south eastern part of the city.

Their first car was called the Tipo 51 or 12 HP, which Vincenzo later renamed as Alfa, beginning a tradition of naming vehicles he produced after letters in the Greek alphabet.  As the business grew, the factory moved to larger premises in the Borgo San Paolo district.

Right from the start, Lancia was different from other Italian marques: it prioritised engineering innovation over mass production, emphasising precision, and mechanical elegance. Vincenzo insisted on rigorous testing and would delay production rather than release a car that did not meet his standards.

The Lambda, which first appeared in 1922, was almost certainly his most important contribution to automotive history. Its monocoque construction, combining the body shell and chassis in one rigid unit, was a world first in production cars, as was its independent front suspension. 

Lancia’s conceptual leap in the way the Lambda was made brought major improvements in handling and safety and influenced car design across Europe, setting the template for modern vehicle construction. The monocoque body became the global standard for passenger cars.

The innovative, aerodynamic Lancia Aprilia was
about to go into production when Vincenzo died 

Vincenzo’s personal prestige grew with the reputation of his cars. He was instrumental, as a high-profile supporter, in the construction of the Monza race track, at which he laid the foundation stone in 1922. In 1930, he joined forces with a group of other industrialists to form the coachbuilding company called Carrozzeria Pinin Farina, headed by the car designer Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina, which was to become synonymous with Italian sports cars and influenced the design of countless luxury and family cars across the world.

Lancia teamed up with Pinin Farina to work on his second ground-breaking car, the Aprilia, which was just weeks away from going into production when Vincenzo died. The Aprilia was one of the first cars designed using a wind tunnel, its streamlined body achieving record low drag. The Aprilia also featured four pillarless doors, a narrow-angle V4 engine and independent suspension.

Vincenzo Lancia was a contradictory character, according to those who knew him. A jovial bon viveur away from work, a music lover who was good company, he was a perfectionist in his professional role, intensely driven and willing to work long hours to achieve his goals. Some say these traits may have contributed to his premature demise.

After his death, a funeral was held in Turin, after which he body was taken back to Fobello and laid to rest in the family tomb at the village’s small cemetery.

The running of the Lancia business was taken over by his son, Gianni, and Gianni’s mother, Adele, who had been Vincenzo’s secretary. They hired Vittorio Jano, the Hungarian-born engineer who had made a name for himself with Alfa Romeo. 

Like his father, Gianni was energetic, ambitious and imaginative and Lancia continued to produce technically brilliant cars, the Aprilia being followed by the Ardea, Aurelia and later the Flaminia. 

But the company’s engineering‑first philosophy became increasingly expensive to sustain and ultimately contributed to Lancia becoming part of Fiat in 1969.

The Villa Lancia in the village of Fobello, in the High
Mastallone Valley, was the Lancia family home

Travel tip:

Fobello, where Vincenzo Lancia was born, is a small mountain village in Valsesia, in the province of Vercelli, Piedmont. It sits at about 880 metres in the High Mastallone Valley, surrounded by dense beech woods and gentle alpine slopes. The area is often called the “Emerald Basin” because of its unusually lush, sunlit green amphitheatre of forests and meadows. Fobello is part of the High Valsesia Nature Park, one of the most pristine alpine environments in Piedmont. It is a popular area for hiking and excursions through beech forests and high pastures, for wildlife observation and exploring traditional alpine hamlets, of which there are many in the vicinity. The name Fobello is traditionally linked to the Valsesian word fo, meaning beech, although some local lore suggests it may be a contraction of fondo bello, which could be taken to mean beautiful valley floor. Fobello’s parish church, the Chiesa San Giacomo dates back to 1545 but has twice been destroyed by flooding from the nearby Mastallone torrent, being rebuilt in 1931. The Palazzo Giuseppe Lancia, which Vincenzo Lancia himself built as a school building, now houses a museum dedicated to Vincenzo’s life and career. Visitors to Fobello often stay in nearby Varallo.

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Only an aerial photograph can capture the sheer
size of the former Fiat factory at Lingotto

Travel tip:

The automobile industry in Turin is mainly defined by Fiat, whose former headquarters in Via Nizza in the Lingotto district, where Vincenzo Lancia worked before setting up in business himself, was once the largest car factory in the world, built to a linear design by the Futurist architect Giacomo Matte Trucco. It featured a spectacular rooftop test track made famous in the Michael Caine movie, The Italian Job. The track is still in place and though Fiat’s main production centre is elsewhere, is still used to test the company’s range of electric cars. Redesigned in the 1980s by the award-winning contemporary architect Renzo Piano, it now houses concert halls, a theatre, a convention centre, shopping arcades and a hotel, as well as the Pinacoteca Agnelli art gallery and the Automotive Engineering faculty of the Polytechnic University of Turin.  The Oval Lingotto, an indoor arena built for the 2006 Winter Olympics, is now used for exhibitions.

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More reading:

How Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina became a giant of the car industry

What made Vittorio Jano one of the greatest engine designers in motor racing history

The ‘tractor maker’ insult that inspired Ferruccio Lamborghini

Also on this day:

1564: The birth of Renaissance scientist Galileo Galilei

1898: The birth of comic actor Totò

1910: The birth of circus clown Charlie Cairoli

1927: The birth of cardinal Carlo Maria Martini

1944: The destruction of Monte Cassino Abbey

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Victor Emmanuel I - King of Sardinia

The first Victor Emmanuel ruled only part of Italy

Italian painter Luigi Bernero's 
portrait of Victor Emmanual I

King Victor Emmanuel, who was Duke of Savoy and ruler of the Savoy states in northern Italy, and King of the island of Sardinia, died on this day in 1824 in Turin. 

His namesake in Italian history, who was to become Victor Emmanuel II, the first King of Italy, was the son of one of his distant cousins.

When Victor Emmanuel I died, he left no heir. His surviving daughters were unable to inherit because of a law excluding women and their descendants from the line of succession. He was succeeded as King of Sardinia by his brother, Charles Felix in 1821. His brother also left no successors and he was in turn succeeded to the titles by his cousin, Charles Albert in 1831.

After Charles Albert died in 1849, his son, Victor Emmanuel, became King of Sardinia and took the title of King Victor Emmanuel II. Therefore, when Victor Emmanuel became King of the newly united Italy in 1861, he continued to style himself as King Victor Emmanuel II.

Some Italians may have preferred his title to have been King Victor Emmanuel I, marking a new start for the united country, but their first monarch chose to continue with the same title because of his Savoy ancestor, who had the same name.

This may have given the impression that the country was being taken over by Sardinia and Piedmont and caused resentment in the south of Italy, but to many Italians it was regarded as logical because this was their new king’s existing title.

Victor Emmanuel I had been born in 1759 at the royal palace in Turin. As the second son of King Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia, he was known from birth as the Duke of Aosta. 

When his father died in 1796, Victor Emmanuel’s older brother became Charles Emmanuel IV, King of Sardinia.  

Charles Emmanuel was immediately faced with the threat of Napoleon Bonaparte’s French army occupying his territory and he withdrew with his wife to Sardinia. He took little interest in the running of Sardinia and subsequently lived with his wife in Naples and Rome. They were childless and so he abdicated in favour of Victor Emmanuel after his wife’s death in 1802.

Victor Emmanuel I ruled from Cagliari
after Napoleon's army occupied Piedmont

Victor Emmanuel I ruled Sardinia from Cagliari for the next 12 years. He founded the Carabinieri, which still exists as one of Italy’s main law and order agencies to this day alongside the Polizia di Stato and the Guardia di Finanza. 

After Napoleon was defeated, he was able to return to Turin and he abolished many of the freedoms that had been granted to the people while under French rule, restoring a stricter regime, refusing to grant a liberal constitution, and entrusting education to the church.

In 1821, when revolutionary fever was threatening to sweep through Italy, Victor Emmanuel I was still unwilling to grant a liberal constitution to the people and so he abdicated in favour of his brother, Charles Felix. 

Because his brother was in Modena at the time, Victor Emmanuel I made Charles Albert, who was second in line to the throne, the Regent of the Kingdom.

In 1824, he went to live in the Castle of Moncalieri, where he died. He was buried in the Basilica of Superga in Turin.

As a descendant of Princess Henrietta, the youngest child of King Charles I of England, Victor Emmanuel I carried the Jacobite claim to the thrones of England and Scotland during his lifetime.

The colourful port city of Cagliari is the
capital of the island of Sardinia

Travel tip:

Sardinia is a large island off the coast of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea. It has sandy beaches and a mountainous landscape. The southern city of Cagliari, from where Victor Emmanuel I ruled, has a medieval quarter called Castello, which has narrow streets, palaces and a 13th century Cathedral.  It came under Savoy control as part of the settlement following the War of the Spanish Succession, which became a battle for power in Europe between 1701 and 1714.  Victor Amadeus II, who was the Duke of Savoy and ruler of Piedmont, was originally given Sicily, but was persuaded by the victorious Allies - Britain, France, Austria and the Dutch Republic - to accept Sardinia instead, which appealed to the Savoys because, as a Spanish kingdom, it came with a crown. Thus, the Duchy of Savoy and the Principality of Piedmont effectively merged with the island to form the new Kingdom of Sardinia, although ruled from the Piedmont capital, Turin.

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The Castello di Moncalieri, the Savoy palace
where Victor Emmanuel I spent his last days

Travel tip:

Moncalieri, where Victor Emmanuel I spent his final days living in the castle originally built by his ancestor, Thomas I of Savoy, in 1100, is a town with a population of almost 58,000 people situated about 8km (5 miles) south of Turin, within the city’s metropolitan area. At one time principally a summer resort for the Savoy family, Moncalieri is now essentially a suburb of Turin, and home to many technology companies.  The castle, which Thomas I constructed on a hill as a fortress to command the main southern access to Turin, evolved in the mid-15th century as a pleasure residence at the behest of Yolanda of Valois, wife of Duke Amadeus IX, who employed the architect Carlo di Castellamonte to enlarge and redesign it. Now a UNESCO World Heritage site, the castle became a favourite residence of King Victor Emmanuel II and subsequently his daughter, Maria Clotilde. Today it houses a prestigious training college for the Carabinieri, Italy’s quasi-military police force, founded by Victor Emmanuel I.

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More reading: 

The ruler nicknamed “iron head” who made Turin the capital of Savoy

Victor Emmanuel II proclaimed first King of Italy

The founding of the Carabinieri

Also on this day:

49BC: Julius Caesar leads army across the Rubicon river, sparking civil war

987: The death of Venetian Doge Pietro Orseolo

1834: The birth in Naples of historian and politician Lord Acton

1890: The birth of silent movie star Pina Menichelli

1903: The birth of car designer Flaminio Bertoni

1922: The birth of footballer Aldo Ballarin

1959: The birth of football manager Maurizio Sarri

2009: The death of publisher Giorgio Mondadori

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Roberto Boninsegna - footballer

Prolific striker who helped Italy reach 1970 World Cup final

Roberto Boninsegna in the colours of Inter Milan, 
the club he dreamed of playing for as a child

The footballer Roberto Boninsegna, a prolific striker who scored 171 goals  in 14 years in Italy’s Serie A, was born on this day in 1943 in Mantua in Lombardy.

Boninsegna, whose relentlessly tenacious attacking style made him a fan favourite despite his relatively small physical stature, was at his peak during a seven-season spell with Inter Milan from 1969 to 1976, during which he scored 113 goals in 197 Serie A appearances.

He was also a prominent member of the Italy national team at the 1970 World Cup finals in Mexico, scoring the opening goal for the azzurri in their epic 4-3 extra-time victory over West Germany in the semi-final. 

Boninsegna was also responsible for Italy’s first-half equaliser against Pele's Brazil in the final, before the South Americans, universally acclaimed as one of the finest teams in international football history, overwhelmed them in the second half, winning 4-1.

His aerial prowess, which saw him regularly outjump taller defenders to ensure his head was first to the ball, earned him the nickname Bonimba from the celebrated football writer Gianni Brera. It stuck with fans, even though the player himself did not care for it because it drew on an obsolete word used to describe circus dwarfs.

Boninsegna is said to have entered the world during adversity, his mother, Elsa, giving birth during an Allied bombing raid on Mantua during World War Two.

Always an Inter Milan fan - he wore the blue and black nerazzurri shirt under his club colours while playing youth football for his local team - Boninsegna suffered the heartbreak of rejection when he joined Inter’s youth programme only to be discarded at an early stage in his development.

The Tuscan club Prato eventually gave him his start in the professional game in 1963. His next move took many miles from home to Basilicata, spending a season with Potenza before returning north to join Varese, where he made his Serie A debut in 1965. 

Boninsegna's reputation soared after he
teamed up with Luigi Riva at Cagliari

His breakthrough came after he joined Cagliari in 1966. Forming a deadly partnership with the azzurri great, Luigi Riva, he scored 23 goals in 83 appearances for the Sardinian team, showcasing his knack for finding space and converting chances. Cagliari finished runners-up in Serie A in 1968-69.

Boninsegna missed out on Cagliari’s great triumph of the following campaign, when they lifted the scudetto for the only time in the club’s history, having achieved the dream previously dashed when Inter signed him in 1969 for a fee of 600 million lire, equivalent roughly to €13.7 million today and a colossal sum in terms of football transfers at the time.

With Inter, Boninsegna enjoyed considerable success, helping the nerazzurri win the scudetto in 1970-71, a season in which he was Serie A’s capocannoniere - top scorer - with 24 goals. In total, across his time at San Siro, he made 281 appearances (197 in Serie A , 55 in the Coppa Italia and 29 in Europe) and delivered 171 goals (113 in Serie A, 36 in the Coppa Italia and 22 in Europe).

Yet his spell with Inter also included controversy after his part in what would be dubbed La partita della lattina - the Match of the Can.  This was the first leg of the European Cup round-of-16 match between Inter Milan and Borussia Mönchengladbach in Germany.

In the 29th minute, with Inter trailing 2–1, Boninsegna was about to take a throw-in when he collapsed to the ground after appearing to be hit on the head by a Coca-Cola can thrown from the stands. 

Boninsegna was stretchered off. Inter officials demanded the match be abandoned but the Dutch referee, Jef Dorpmans, allowed play to continue. However, the Inter team effectively refused to compete, and Mönchengladbach went on to thrash them 7–1, a result that shocked European football.

Boningsegna helped Italy reach the
final of the 1970 World Cup in Mexico

When Inter lodged a formal protest with UEFA, arguing that the incident had unfairly disrupted the match and endangered player safety, a furious row developed, with some German fans and even club officials claiming that Boninsegna had exaggerated the extent to which he was hurt. 

There was also confusion over whether the can that hit Boninsegna was full, as the Italian team’s officials said, or empty, which some on the German side believed.  With no TV cameras capturing the incident on film, it was not possible to review what had happened.

Inter’s vice-president, lawyer Giuseppe Prisco, failed in his argument that the match should be awarded to Inter, UEFA deciding instead that it be replayed. However, in another controversial twist, the European governing body allowed the scheduled second leg in Milan to go ahead before the first leg was replayed. Inter won it 4-2. 

When the sides met again on neutral ground at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Inter simply had to protect their lead to progress to the quarter-finals and the contest ended goalless. Inter went on to reach the final but were beaten 2-0 by Ajax, for whom Johann Cruyff scored both goals.

Boninsegna’s Inter career ended with a transfer to Juventus in 1976 in a deal that saw Juventus striker Pietro Anastasi switch to San Siro. Inter judged that, at nearly 34, Boninsegna had his best years behind him, yet he went on to enjoy a renaissance in Turin, helping his new club win Serie A twice, a Coppa Italia and the UEFA Cup - the famous club’s first European trophy - before ending his professional career with Verona.

For the Italian national team, he won 22 caps between 1967 and 1974, scoring nine goals.

After retiring as a player in 1981, Boninsegna had a number of coaching roles, including at his home town club, Mantua, where he also served as technical director and vice-president. However, his post-playing career never reached the heights he touched as a player. 

Nonetheless, his legacy as a player remains intact. He is remembered not only for his goals but for his resilience, having risen from wartime hardship to become a symbol of Italian footballing excellence.

Boninsegna, now 82, still lives in Mantua. Even decades after his retirement, his name evokes memories of powerful strikes, dramatic goals, and unwavering determination.

Mantua's Palazzo Ducale, the seat of the city's
powerful Gonzaga family for almost 400 years

Travel tip:

Mantua, where Roberto Boninsegna was born and still lives, is an atmospheric and historic city in Lombardy, just over 130km (81 miles) southeast of Milan. In the Renaissance heart of the city is Piazza Mantegna, where the 15th century Basilica of Sant’Andrea houses the tomb of the artist, Andrea Mantegna, arguably the city’s most famous son, although the Roman poet Virgil was born in what is now Pietole, just a few kilometres outside the city. The basilica was originally built to accommodate the large number of pilgrims who came to Mantua to see a precious relic, an ampoule containing what were believed to be drops of Christ’s blood mixed with earth. This was claimed to have been collected at the site of his crucifixion by a Roman soldier.  Mantua was also the seat between 1328 and 1707 of the powerful Gonzaga family, who significantly expanded the city’s Palazzo Ducale, transforming it into their official residence and one of the largest palatial complexes in Europe.  The palace’s Camera degli Sposi is decorated with frescoes by Andrea Mantegna, depicting the life of Eleonora’s ancestor, Ludovico Gonzaga, and his family in the 15th century. The beautiful backgrounds of imaginary cities and ruins reflect Mantegna’s love of classical architecture.

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Milan's famous Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in the
San Siro district is earmarked for demolition

Travel tip:

During his Inter Milan career, Roberto Boninsegna became one of the many legendary players to have graced the colossal Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, in the San Siro district of northwest Milan. The stadium, which can accommodate almost 80,000 spectators, was completed in its original form in 1926. A number of extensive renovations, the last of which was completed ahead of the 1990 World Cup finals, gave the stadium its distinctive appearance, with its top tier supported by 11 cylindrical towers which incorporate spiral walkways. Giuseppe Meazza, from whom the stadium takes its name, spent 14 years as a player and three terms as manager at Inter.  Since 1947, Inter and their city rivals AC Milan have shared the stadium but its days are numbered in its present iconic form. The two Milan clubs have jointly purchased the stadium and surrounding land from the Municipality of Milan for €197 million, ending nearly 80 years of public ownership. The clubs plan to demolish most of the existing stadium to make way for a new, state-of-the-art arena with a capacity of 71,500 seats. It is planned that the new venue will be ready in time for the 2032 European Championships finals, which Italy will host jointly with Turkey. 

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More reading:

Giuseppe Meazza, the Inter striker who gave his name to the San Siro stadium

Luigi Riva, Italy's record goalscorer and hero of Cagliari

Sandro Mazzola, the Inter great whose father perished in the Superga disaster

Also on this day:

1868: The death of composer Gioachino Rossini

1894: The death of Sister Agostina Livia Pietrantoni, a nurse murdered by a patient later made a saint

1907: The birth of Princess Giovanna of Italy - Tsaritsa of Bulgaria

1914: The birth of film director Alberto Lattuada

1936: The birth of novelist and short story writer Dacia Maraini

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Giuseppe Ravizza - inventor

His writing machine was forerunner of typewriter

Ravizza used piano keys in his prototype
design for his Cembalo Scrivano

The 19th century inventor Giuseppe Ravizza, whose Cembalo Scrivano machine could be seen as the world’s first typewriter, died on this day in 1885 in Livorno, on the Tuscan coast, about 25km (16 miles) south of Pisa.

Ravizza created the first working prototype for his writing machine in 1846 and was granted patent in 1855. Yet, although he hailed from a wealthy Piedmontese family in Novara, he did not have the opportunity in pre-unification Italy to manufacture the device on a commercial scale.

As a result, the invention of the typewriter is most commonly credited to Christopher Latham Sholes, an American inventor whose design was not patented until 1868, yet had many of the characteristics of Ravizza’s Cembalo Scrivano.

Produced with the help of Sholes's fellow designers Carlos Glidden and Samuel Souley, the American machine was eventually manufactured at scale by E Remington and Sons in 1873, marking the beginning of the typewriter's widespread use.

Born in Novara in 1811, Ravizza’s education was aimed at him becoming a lawyer and though he graduated he rarely practised. He was much more interested in engineering, specifically in producing a machine that could replicate the art of writing.

He was not the first to have envisaged such a machine. In the early 19th century, an Italian nobleman, Pellegrino Turri, designed a device he hoped would help a blind friend be able to write letters. It did not progress beyond a prototype, although it was Turri who is credited with inventing carbon paper as a means to make an imprint on the page. Another machine is said to have been designed by an American, William Austin Burt, in around 1829.

Ravizza came from a wealthy
background in Novara

Ravizza’s Cembalo Scrivano - literally ‘writing harpsichord’ - was so-called because the typing keys resembled those of a harpsichord. They were, in fact, recycled piano keys. Although it was not a qwerty keyboard, which is definitively thought to be a Sholes invention, the letters were arranged in what Ravizza felt was a logical order, with the aim that the user would be able to employ all 10 fingers in the writing process.

The upstroke mechanism that would be characteristic of the later American-produced version was also present in Ravizza’s machine, which also allowed the user to type both upper and lower case letters, an advancement not seen in the first Remington models.

His keyboard layout was almost certainly inspired by musical instruments, reflecting his belief that writing should be fluid and expressive. His ultimate vision was of a mechanised device that could put words on paper almost at the speed of thought.

Historians have noted the striking similarities between the Sholes typewriter and Ravizza’s design, and while no direct evidence of plagiarism has been uncovered it is possible that American designers will have been aware of Ravizza’s work. 

The Cembalo Scrivano was shown to the public at the Industrial Exhibition in Turin in 1856, where Ravizza sold a small number at 200 lire each, and at a similar exhibition in Novara, where it was awarded a gold medal.  The Cembalo Scrivano was also exhibited in London. 

Ravizza spent almost 40 years refining his typewriter
but it was never produced on a commercial scale

In total, Ravizza spent nearly 40 years refining his machine. Despite producing at least 16 models of his Cembalo Scrivano between 1847 and the early 1880s, his inventions never reached mass production or commercial viability. 

Italy in the mid-19th century lacked the industrial infrastructure to support such innovation, and Ravizza himself was more an inventor than a businessman, with no particular motivation to make financial gains.

Having been born into a moneyed background, in 1886 he married Alessandrina Massini, an Italian philanthropist sometimes described as a forerunner of the feminist movement. Their home became a popular bourgeois salon.

Today, he is remembered as a visionary precursor to the typewriter revolution, if not the inventor. His machines are preserved in museums and private collections, including the Civic Museum of the Broletto in Novara, which has a Cembalo Scrivano donated in 1940 by the Mayor of Ivrea on behalf of the Olivetti Society.

The towering dome of the Basilica of San Gaudenzio
dominates the landscape of Novara in Piedmont

Travel tip:

Novara, where Ravizza was born, is around 65km (40 miles) west of Milan and 100km (62 miles) northeast of Turin. With a population of just over 100,000, it is the second largest city in the Piedmont region, after Turin. Founded by the Romans, it was later ruled by the Visconti and Sforza families. In the 18th century it was ruled by the House of Savoy. In the 1849 Battle of Novara, the Sardinian army was defeated by the Austrian army, who occupied the city. This led to the abdication of Charles Albert of Sardinia and is seen as the beginning of the Italian unification movement.  Among the fine, historic buildings in Novara, which include the Basilica of San Gaudenzio - notable for its towering campanile, topped by Alessandro Antonelli's 75m cupola - and the Broletto, a complex that was at the civic heart of many medieval Italian cities, is the Novara Pyramid, which is also called the Ossuary of Bicocca. It was built to hold the ashes of fallen soldiers after the 19th century Battle of Novara.

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The busy port of Livorno on Italy's west coast
is the second largest city in Tuscany

Travel tip:

The port of Livorno is the second largest city in Tuscany after Florence, with a population of almost 160,000. It is the region’s principal seaport, a dynamic gateway to the Tyrrhenian Sea and a vital hub for both cargo and cruise traffic. The port spans over 2.5 million square meters, with 21 km of docks and around 90 berths. It handles over 35 million tonnes of goods and more than 3.5 million passengers, including 800,000 cruise passengers, each year. Positioned on Italy’s west coast, it is about 90km (56 miles) from Florence. Although it is a large commercial port with much related industry, it has many attractions, including an elegant sea front – the Terrazza Mascagni - an historic centre – the Venetian quarter – with canals, and a tradition of serving excellent seafood.  The Terrazza Mascagni is named after the composer Pietro Mascagni, who was born in Livorno. 

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More reading:

Camillo Olivetti - the founder of Italy’s first typewriter factory

The Italian engineer behind the world’s first personal computer

The priest and physicist who created the first ‘fax machine’

Also on this day:

1459: The death of humanist scholar Poggio Bracciolini

1877: The birth of businesswoman Luisa Spagnoli

1893: The birth of bodybuilder Charles Atlas

1896: The birth of conductor Antonino Votto

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Edmondo De Amicis - writer and journalist

Author whose most famous work became a staple text in Italian schools

Edmondo De Amicis's first writing
drew on his service in the Italian Army

The writer, journalist and former soldier Edmondo De Amicis, famous as the author of Cuore, his imagined diary of a schoolboy in Turin, was born on this day in 1846 in Oneglia, now part of modern Imperia in Liguria.

Through its daily diary entries by the book’s central character, Enrico, interspersed with uplifting stories told by one of his teachers, Cuore - published for the first time in 1886 - came to be seen as something of a moral compass for young people growing up in post-unification Italy.

At a time when the newly-formed Italian State was keen to impose its authority over a Catholic Church that had vehemently opposed unification and still refused to recognise the new Kingdom of Italy, Cuore’s emphasis on values such as patriotism, compassion, diligence, and respect for authority, resonated deeply with the new secular government, reflecting exactly the moral and civic ideals it wished to be at the heart of society.

It became a staple in Italian public schools, remaining so for the best part of a century. Moreover, its appeal extended well beyond the borders of the fledgling Italian nation and was adapted and translated into at least 25 languages, earning De Amicis international acclaim.

Although Cuore - Heart - was by some way the biggest success of his literary career, De Amicis also won praise for the travel books he wrote while working as a foreign correspondent for the Rome newspaper La Nazione. 

One of these - Constantinople (1877) - was seen as the best description of the Turkish city now known as Istanbul to be published in the 19th century. A new edition of the book was published in 2005.

In addition to Cuore, De Amicis, who was a member of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies for the Italian Socialist Party between 1906 and his death in 1908, wrote a number of later novels that reflected his interest in such matters as social reform, education, and workers’ rights.

De Amicis himself had been born into a wealthy family. His father, Francescso, was a royal banker in the salt and tobacco sector. His original home in Oneglia and the one to which the family moved in Cuneo, Piedmont, when he was two years old, were both spacious and elegant properties.

Cuore became staple reading for
generations of Italian schoolchildren

Growing up in Cuneo, he initially looked destined for a military career. After studying at the Candellero military college in Turin, he enrolled at the Military Academy of Modena at age 16, graduating with the rank of second lieutenant.

This experience, shaped as it was by Italy’s turbulent path towards unification, profoundly influenced his destiny. As an officer in the Royal Italian Army, he participated in the Third War of Independence and fought in the Battle of Custoza in 1866. Italy’s defeat by Austria left De Amicis deeply disillusioned, leading him to resign from military service and turn to writing.

At first, it was as a military journalist, moving to Florence to edit L'Italia militare, the official publication, for whom he wrote military sketches, later collected in a book entitled La vita militare - Military Life. His vivid portrayals of army life were well received and became the launch pad for his new career. 

De Amicis soon became a news journalist and travel writer, journeying across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Travel books such as Spagna (1873), Olanda (1874), and the aforementioned Costantinopoli (1878) were celebrated for their rich descriptions and cultural insights, blending reportage with literary flair.

It was Cuore, however, that was the turning point of his literary life. Its themes promoted a strong sense of national identity, emphasising loyalty to Italy, respect for its institutions and admiration for its heroes, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefield. 

The stories told by young Enrico’s teacher, meanwhile, taught virtues such as honesty, courage, humility and compassion, while often featuring children from different regions of Italy, reinforcing unity through shared values.

De Amicis entered Italian politics
towards the end of his life

The book caused some controversy, too, by making no reference to religion. The nuns, priests or other religious mentors that featured in other moral tales were conspicuous by their absence. This upset the Catholic Church, already reeling from the capture of the Papal States and Rome in 1870, which completed unification and reduced the pope to a mere spiritual leader, having previously been effectively the monarch of his domain.

De Amicis ultimately returned to Piedmont, with homes in Turin and Pinerolo. It was the school life of his sons Furio and Ugo, students at the Boncompagni Elementary School in Turin, that inspired him to write Cuore. 

His last years were overshadowed by sadness, at the death of his mother, his fractious relationship with his wife and ultimately the suicide of Furio, his eldest son. It prompted him to leave Turin soon after the turn of the century, thereafter leading a nomadic existence that included time in Florence and Catania, in Sicily.

He died during a stay in Bordighera, in Liguria, where he suffered a cerebral haemorrhage while resident at the then Hotel Regina, which he had chosen as his base because George MacDonald, a Scottish poet he admired, had lived there a few years earlier. The building, at Via Vittorio Veneto 34, has commemorative plaques to them both. 

De Amicis was laid to rest in the family tomb, in the monumental cemetery of Turin.

Piazza Dante is a the central square in the part 
of Imperia that makes up the former Oneglia

Travel tip:

Oneglia, where De Amicis was born, was a town about 120km (75 miles) from Genoa along the western coast of Liguria. It was joined to Porto Maurizio in 1923 by Fascist ruler Benito Mussolini to form the municipality known as Imperia. The area has become well known for cultivating flowers and olives and there is a Museum of the Olive in the part of the city that used to be Oneglia. One of Italy’s most famous olive oil producers and connoisseurs, Filippo Berio, was born in Oneglia in 1829.  The Porto Maurizio area is characterised by steep, narrow streets and loggias with an elevated position offering views across the Ligurian Sea, while the Oneglia part of Imperia is on the whole a modern town, one exception being the streets behind the Calata Cuneo in the port area. Today, Imperia is part industrial port and part tourist resort.  What used to be Oneglia is at the eastern end of Imperia, around Piazza Dante, which is at the centre of a long shopping street, Via Aurelia.

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Picturesque side streets are part
of the charm of Bordighera

Travel tip:

Bordighera, where De Amicis died, is a small, picturesque town on Italy’s western Riviera, just 20km (12 miles) from Italy’s border with France. It is famous for its flower industry and was a popular holiday destination for the British during Queen Victoria’s reign. Being situated where the Maritime Alps meet the sea, it enjoys the benefit of a climate that invariably produces mild winters. It was the first town in Europe to grow date palms. Its seafront road, the Lungomare Argentina - named in honour of a visit to the town by Evita Peron in 1947 - is 2.3km (1.4 miles) long and is said to be the longest promenade on the Italian Riviera. Queen Margherita of Savoy - wife of Umberto I - had a winter palace, Villa Margherita, in the town.  Bordighera was the scene of a meeting in 1941 between Italy’s Fascist leader, Benito Mussolini, and his Spanish counterpart, Francisco Franco, to discuss Spain’s entry to World War Two on the side of Italy and Germany, although in the end Spain remained nominally neutral.

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More reading:

Maria Montessori and the launch of what became a worldwide network of schools

How the first free public school in Europe opened in Frascati, just outside Rome

A soldier-turned-writer who fought alongside unification hero Garibaldi

Also on this day:

1581: The birth of Baroque master Domenichino 

1898: The birth of Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta

1928: The birth of anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli, inspiration for Dario Fo play

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