Costanzo Picco (11 September 1917 – 9 December 2009) was an Italian military officer and skier. He served as an officer during

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 ...

in first the Italian 4th Army and later the Italian resistance forces. After WWII, he participated in the 1948 Winter Olympics, and served as a commander in the Italian Mountain Warfare School.

Biography

Picco, born in Borgo San Dalmazzo, served in the Italian 4th army as an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," f ...

during

. Amongst other missions, they fought in cooperation with the

Giustizia e Libertà Giustizia e Libertà (; en, Justice and Freedom) was an Italian anti-fascist resistance movement, active from 1929 to 1945.James D. Wilkinson (1981). ''The Intellectual Resistance Movement in Europe''. Harvard University Press. p. 224. The mov ...

in the

Valle Maira Maira Valley (in Italian ''Val Maira'' or ''Valle Macra'') is a valley in south-west of Piedmont in the Province of Cuneo, Italy. Etymology The valley takes its name from the river Maira, a right-hand tributary of the Po which flows through the ...

.''3.1.8 Il progetto di «Costituzione confederale europea ed interna» di Duccio Galimberti e Antonio Repaci (ottobre 1942 – settembre 1943)''
(Italian). He was taken prisoner during the war twice, once by the French and once by the Germans, but was able to flee both times. During his time in the

Italian resistance The Italian resistance movement (the ''Resistenza italiana'' and ''la Resistenza'') is an umbrella term for the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Socia ...

time, he served as

liaison officer A Liaison officer is a person who liaises between two or more organizations to communicate and coordinate their activities on a matter of mutual concern. Generally, liaison officers are used for achieving the best utilization of resources, or empl ...

between the partisans of justice and freedom in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and the allied troops. For his commitment he was decorated with the

Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...

. Further received decorations were the

Bronze Medal of Military Valor The Bronze Medal of Military Valor ( it, Medaglia di bronzo al valor militare) is an Italian medal for gallantry. It was established by Charles Albert of Sardinia on 26 March 1833, along with the higher ranking Gold and Silver Medals for Military ...

(medaglia di Bronzo al Valor Militare) and the

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross (german: Kriegsverdienstkreuz) was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit ...

(Croce al Merito di Guerra). After the war he led the national team in the demonstration event of

military patrol Military patrol was a team winter sport in which athletes competed in cross-country skiing, ski mountaineering and rifle shooting. It was usually contested between countries or military units. The military patrol competition encompassed 25 ki ...

(a precursor to

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not tim ...

) in the 1948 Winter Olympics, and placed in fourth Advanced to the rank of a Capitano shortly after the Olympic games, he was transferred to the Italian mountain warfare school () in

Aosta Aosta (, , ; french: Aoste , formerly ; frp, Aoûta , ''Veulla'' or ''Ouhta'' ; lat, Augusta Praetoria Salassorum; wae, Augschtal; pms, Osta) is the principal city of Aosta Valley, a bilingual region in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of ...

.''Dal dopoguerra al 1960''
(Italian), Fondo Italia. 1951, he received his second Bronze Medal of Military Valor. In 1952 he became

company commander A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by country, ...

of the 43rd Alpine Ski-battalion "Monte Cervino" (), a ski warfare company, in Aosta. He had the command over the 37th Alpine Company during its mission to carry and place the monumental statue of Christ (by Alfredo Bai) on the top of the Balmenhorn in 1955.''Cinquante'anni fa l'epica impresa degli alpini: posato sul Balmenhorn il „Cristo delle vette“''
(Italian), L'Alpino, August/September 2005. From 1960 to 1965 he was commander of the ''Scuola Militare Alpina'' with the rank of a Tenente Colonnello.''Centro Addestramento Alpino''
(Italian). Picco was the first president of the ''Associazione Sport Invernali Valle d'Aosta'' (ASIVA)''Cenni storici: ASIVA''
(Italian). and was advanced to General later.''Gli alpini in Afghanistan''
(Italian), November 2002, p. 10. He was still active as a mountain guide of the '' Trenker-Trek''Trenker Trek 2008
/ref> before he died. He was married to Pia Greppi.Il Generale Costanzo Picco
Ciao Pais N° 5, September/October 2010, p. 6.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Picco, Costanzo Italian military patrol (sport) runners Olympic biathletes for Italy Italian generals Military patrol competitors at the 1948 Winter Olympics People from the Province of Cuneo Italian resistance movement members Alpini Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Recipients of the Bronze Medal of Military Valor Recipients of the War Cross for Military Valor 1917 births 2009 deaths