Enrico Silvestri (12 May 1896 – 24 June 1977) was an Italian

Alpini The Alpini are the Italian Army's specialist mountain infantry. Part of the army's infantry corps, the speciality distinguished itself in combat during World War I and World War II. Currently the active Alpini units are organized in two operatio ...

officer and skier. Silvestri, born in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

, was the leader of the military patrol team, which placed 4th at the

1928 Winter Olympics The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games (french: IIes Jeux olympiques d'hiver; german: II. Olympische Winterspiele; it, II Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, II Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. M ...

. In 1934 he was transferred to the new founded

mountain warfare Mountain warfare (also known as alpine warfare) is warfare in mountains or similarly rough terrain. Mountain ranges are of strategic importance since they often act as a natural border, and may also be the origin of a water source (for example, t ...

school of the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

called ''Scuola Militare di Alpinismo'' (today: Centro Addestramento Alpino). At the

Trofeo Mezzalama The Mezzalama Trophy ( it, Trofeo Mezzalama, french: Trophée Mezzalama, a.k.a. ''white marathon''

in 1935 he and his team colleagues Carlo Ronc and Attilio Chenoz finished first.Winners of the Trofeo Mezzalama
/ref> In the rank of a capitano he led again the military patrol team at the

1936 Winter Olympics The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games (german: IV. Olympische Winterspiele) and commonly known as Garmisch-Partenkirchen 1936 ( bar, Garmasch-Partakurch 1936), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 16 ...

, which won the gold medal. In the end of

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 ...

, tenente colonnello Silvestri joined the

Italian resistance movement 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 Social ...

and served in the partisan Division Garibaldi, from the middle of January 1944 to the end of 1944 in the 6th S.A.P. brigade, and from January until 7 July 1945 in the 19th Garibaldi brigade " Eusebio Giambone".

Publications

* "Lo sci agonistico: allenamento e gare", Milano, 1943

References and notes

1896 births 1977 deaths Italian military patrol (sport) runners Olympic biathletes of Italy Military patrol competitors at the 1928 Winter Olympics Military patrol competitors at the 1936 Winter Olympics Alpini Italian resistance movement members Sportspeople from Turin Olympic gold medalists for Italy {{Italy-wintersport-bio-stub