Arturo Ferrarin (13 February 1895 – 18 July 1941) was an Italian pioneer aviator. His exploits included winning the "

Rome-Tokyo Raid The Rome-Tokyo Raid ( it, Raid Roma-Tokyo) was an Italian long-distance air expedition across Eurasia between 14 February and 31 May 1920. It was organised by Gabriele D'Annunzio and Harukichi Shimoi and completed by the aviators Guido Masiero ...

" air race in 1920 and a non-stop flight from Italy to Brazil in 1928 with fellow aviator Carlo Del Prete. The latter flight set the world distance record for a non-stop flight. Ferrarin, who was born in

Thiene Thiene () is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, in northern Italy, located approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. __NOTOC__ The city has an active and lively industrial sector, composed mainly of small to medium-sized comp ...

and was a decorated veteran of the Italian Royal Air Force during World War I, died in a plane crash at

Guidonia Montecelio Guidonia Montecelio (), commonly known as Guidonia, is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Lazio, central Italy. Geography The municipality of Guidonia Montecelio, formed by the main towns of Guidonia and Montecelio, l ...

in 1941.

Early life

Ferrarin was born in

in the Province of Vicenza to Maria (''née'' Ciscato) and Antonio Ferrarin, a textiles industrialist. He initially studied classics at the Liceo Foscarini in Venice, but his preference for technical subjects led him to withdraw from the

liceo The Gran Teatre del Liceu (, English: Great Theatre of the Lyceum), known as ''El Liceu'', is an opera house in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Located in La Rambla, it is the oldest running theatre in Barcelona. Founded in 1837 at another loca ...

and finish his studies at the in Vicenza. After completing his course there in 1915, he served as a machine-gunner in the Italian Military Air Corps and qualified as a pilot in 1916. He was subsequently stationed at San Pietro in Gu. During World War I, he made numerous flights with the 82nd Squadron and was decorated with the

Silver Medal of Military Valor The Silver Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia d'argento al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. Italian medals for valor were first instituted by Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia on 21 May 1793, with a gold medal, and, below it, ...

and twice with the

War Cross for Military Valor The War Cross for Military Valor ( it, Croce di Guerra al Valor Militare) is an Italian order for military valor. Established in 1922, the cross may be awarded only in time of war. Appearance The medal is a Greek cross made of copper. Inscr ...

Aviation exploits

After World War I ended, Ferrarin devoted himself to aviation contests and exhibitions. It was his flight in a race from Rome to Tokyo, known as the "Rome-Tokyo Raid", which brought him international fame. Ferrarin and Guido Masiero completed the trip of 8000 km in 109 hours of flight in an

Ansaldo SVA The Ansaldo SVA (named for Savoia-Verduzio- Ansaldo) was a family of Italian reconnaissance biplane aircraft of World War I and the decade after. Originally conceived as a fighter, the SVA was found inadequate for that role. Nevertheless, its ...

bi-plane. The flight was done in multiple stages which included stops in Greece, Syria, India, Burma, Thailand, French Indochina (now Viet Nam), China, and Korea. The last leg of the flight, Osaka to Tokyo, was completed on 30 May 1920. Their plane was donated to the Japanese Imperial War Museum where it was on exhibit until the museum was destroyed during World War II. Savoia-Marchetti S

Ferrarin participated twice in the

Schneider Cup The Coupe d'Aviation Maritime Jacques Schneider, also known as the Schneider Trophy, Schneider Prize or (incorrectly) the Schneider Cup is a trophy that was awarded annually (and later, biennially) to the winner of a race for seaplanes and flying ...

, flying a

Macchi M.39 The Macchi M.39 was a racing seaplane designed and built by the Italian aircraft company Aeronautica Macchi in 1925–26. An M.39 piloted by Major Mario de Bernardi (1893–1959) won the 1926 Schneider Trophy, and the type also set world speed ...

in 1926 and a

Macchi M.52 The Macchi M.52 was an Italian racing seaplane designed and built by Macchi for the 1927 Schneider Trophy race. The M.52 and a later variant, the M.52bis or M.52R, both set world speed records for seaplanes. Design and development M.52 Mario C ...

in 1927. On both occasions he had to withdraw before the end of the race due to engine trouble. In July 1928 he and fellow aviator Carlo Del Prete, aboard a single-engine land aircraft

Savoia-Marchetti S.64 The Savoia-Marchetti S.64 was a monoplane developed in Italy in 1928 specifically to contest the world duration and distance records. Design The S.64 was an unusual pod-and-boom design, with the empennage carried on two open truss structures t ...

flew from

near Rome to

Touros Touros (lit. "bulls") is a municipality in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. It is known as "Brazil's Corner" because it is located at the northeast corner of the country, being the closest South American city to Africa (2,841 km from Kabrousse in ...

, a coastal city in northeast Brazil. The flight set the world distance record for a non-stop flight—7188 km in 49 hours 19 minutes. In May of that year, they had set a world distance over a closed circuit, making 51 round trips between Torre Flavia near

Ladispoli Ladispoli is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy. It lies about west of Rome, on the Mediterranean Sea. History Modern Ladispoli includes the site of the ancient ''Alsium'' at nearby Palo Laziale, the po ...

and

Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a Port, fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine I ...

, covering 7,666 km and staying aloft for 58 hours 34 minutes.

Later career and death

On his return to Italy from Brazil in 1928 Ferrarin was awarded the Gold Medal of Aeronautic Valor. However, the Italy-Brazil flight proved to be Ferrarin's last major aviation exploit. In 1929

Italo Balbo Italo Balbo (6 June 1896 – 28 June 1940) was an Italian fascist politician and Blackshirts' leader who served as Italy's Marshal of the Air Force, Governor-General of Libya and Commander-in-Chief of Italian North Africa. Due to his young a ...

, a powerful member of Mussolini's Fascist government, had become the Minister of the Italian Air Force. He was opposed to the participation of Italian airmen in the races and competitions that marked the 1920s because they gave prestige to individuals rather than the air weaponry of the regime which he was anxious to promote. At first Ferrarin acquiesced to Balbo's policy, but after a serious quarrel in 1930, their relationship deteriorated. Balbo eventually demanded and received Ferrarin's leave of absence from the Air Force. Ferrarin married Adelaide Castiglioni on 11 June 1931 in an elaborate wedding in Milan with Balbo and

Prince Amedeo, Duke of Aosta Prince Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta (Amedeo Umberto Isabella Luigi Filippo Maria Giuseppe Giovanni di Savoia-Aosta; 21 October 1898 – 3 March 1942) was the third Duke of Aosta and a first cousin, once removed of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanu ...

as witnesses. The reception was held at the Palazzo Castiglioni which Adelaide's father had built in 1903. The couple departed for their honeymoon in a plane piloted by Ferrarin. After leaving the Air Force, Ferrarin served as a director of the private aviation company

Avio Linee Italiane Avio Linee Italiane (ALI) was an Italian independent airline owned by the Fiat Group, which operated between 1926 and 1952. It was ultimately acquired by Linee Aeree Italiane (LAI). ALI was the country's only pre-World War II airline not to be ...

, a division of

FIAT Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

whose principal shareholders were the Agnelli family. In July 1935 Ferrarin was piloting

Giovanni Agnelli Giovanni Agnelli (13 August 1866 – 16 December 1945) was an Italian businessman, who founded Fiat car manufacturing in 1899. Early life The son of Edoardo Agnelli and Aniceta Frisetti, he was born in 1866 in Villar Perosa, a small town near ...

's seaplane to

Forte dei Marmi Forte dei Marmi () is a sea town and ''comune'' in the province of Lucca, in northern Tuscany (Italy). It is the birthplace of Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Queen of the Belgians from 1993 to 2013. Tourism is the principal activity of Forte dei Marmi's ...

with Agnelli's son

Edoardo Edoardo is the Italian form of the English male given name Edward. Notable people named Edoardo include: * Edoardo Agnelli (industrialist) (1892–1935), Italian industrialist * Edoardo Alfieri (1913–1998), Italian sculptor * Edoardo Amaldi (1908 ...

as his passenger when it ditched in Genoa, hit an obstacle in the water, and overturned. Ferrarin escaped unharmed, but Edoardo Agnelli was killed instantly. Six years later, a plane crash would also claim Ferrarin's life. He died on 18 July 1941 at the age of 46 when a new experimental plane he was testing crashed at

. Ferrarin's military funeral was held in Rome followed by burial in the cemetery of

Induno Olona Induno Olona is a town and ''comune'' in Italy, in north-western Lombardy, north of Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after R ...

in the

Province of Varese The province of Varese ( it, provincia di Varese) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the region of Lombardy in northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Varese (population of 80,857 inhabitants), but its largest city is Busto Arsizio. The head ...

, the home of Adelaide Castiglioni's family.

Legacy

In 1970, the 50th anniversary of Ferrarin's Rome-Tokyo flight, the new airport in

was named in his honor and inaugurated in a ceremony attended by officials from the Italian Air Force, the Ministry of Transport and Aviation, and the Japanese Embassy as well as Ferrarin's widow and his two sons Carlo and Roberto. Other entities named in Ferrarin's honor include a

Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...

in the

Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana Società per azioni, S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, Metropolitan City of ...

fleet, the Istituto Aeronautico Arturo Ferrarin in

Gallarate Gallarate (; Lombard: ''Galaraa'') is a city and ''comune'' of Alto Milanese of Lombardy and of Milan metropolitan area, northern Italy, in the Province of Varese. It has a population of some 54,000 people. It is the junction of railways to Va ...

, Piazza Arturo Ferrarin in Thiene, and streets in

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, and

Fiumicino Airport Fiumicino () is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 80,500 (2019). It is known for being the site of Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, the busiest airport in Italy and the eleventh-bu ...

. Ferrarin's exploits inspired the character "Ferrarin" in the Japanese animated film ''

Porco Rosso is a 1992 Anime, Japanese animated Adventure film, adventure-fantasy film, fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It is based on ''Hikōtei Jidai'' ("The Age of the Flying Boat"), a three-part 1989 watercolor manga by Miyazaki. It ...

'' directed by

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, producer, screenwriter, author, and manga artist. A co-founder of Studio Ghibli, he has attained international acclaim as a masterful storyteller and creator of Japanese animated feature films, and is widel ...

References

External links

Newsreel footage of Ferrarin's wedding in 1931
(official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel of the Istituto Luce Cinecittà)
Photographs of Ferrarin's funeral in 1941
(website of the Istituto Luce Cinecittà) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrarin, Arturo 1895 births 1941 deaths Aviation pioneers Italian aviators Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents Flight endurance record holders Recipients of the Silver Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the War Cross for Military Valor Recipients of the Medal of Aeronautic Valor People from Thiene Italian aviation record holders Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Italy Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1941 Italian military personnel of World War I