Costante Bonazza (6 March 1924 – 28 February 1980) was a Polish-Italian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a right or central defender or

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

. He is best known for being the first

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

professional football player to play in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. Born in

Ceriano Laghetto Ceriano Laghetto (; lmo, Cerian, label=Brianzoeu ) is a (municipality) in the Province of Monza and Brianza in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan. It is served by two railway stations: Ceriano Laghetto-Solaro r ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on 6 March 1924, he started playing in the youth squads of

Ambrosiana The Biblioteca Ambrosiana is a historic library in Milan, Italy, also housing the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, the Ambrosian art gallery. Named after Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan, it was founded in 1609 by Cardinal Federico Borromeo, whose agen ...

, and later in the Italian minor leagues. He was severely impacted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, as in July 1944 he was interned at the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

and lost all the members of his family during the war. He was released in 1945, and decided to move to

. He later married a Polish woman named Eleonora, and acquired

Polish citizenship Polish nationality law is based primarily on the principle of jus sanguinis. Children born to at least one Polish parent acquire Polish citizenship irrespective of place of birth. Besides other things, Polish citizenship entitles the person to a ...

. He worked also in 1949 as car fitter in

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicle ...

of the Provincial Headquarters of the

Milicja Obywatelska Milicja Obywatelska (), in English known as the Citizens' Militia and commonly abbreviated to MO, was the national police organization of the Polish People's Republic. It was established on 7 October 1944 by the Polish Committee of National Libera ...

Szczecin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major s ...

. He played in Poland for ten years; he made his debut in the

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

with

Arkonia Szczecin Arkonia Szczecin is a Polish sports club with football and water polo sections based in Szczecin. The water polo team competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division, and with 13 Polish Championships is one of the most accomplished water polo ...

for whom he played 8 games. He ended his career in 1955, and lived in

Lubań Śląski Lubań (german: Lauban; cz, Lubáň), sometimes called Lubań Śląski ( en, Silesian Lubań; hsb, Lubań Šlešćina); is a town in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwest Poland. It is the administrative seat of Lubań County and also of ...

till his death on 28 February 1980.

References

1924 births 1980 deaths Footballers from Lombardy Italian men's footballers Polish men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Gwardia Koszalin players Arkonia Szczecin players Auschwitz concentration camp survivors People interned during World War II Naturalized citizens of Poland Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Italian expatriate sportspeople in Poland {{Italy-footy-midfielder-1920s-stub