Erminio Sipari (1 December 1879 – 28 January 1968) was an Italian

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and naturalist, author of studies on the preservation of nature and founder of

Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park (Italian: ''Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise'') is an Italian national park established in 1923. The majority of the park is located in the Abruzzo region, with smaller parts in Lazio and Molise. It ...

, which he chaired from 1922 to 1933.

Biography

Sipari was born in Alvito,

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. His family, well known in

southern Italy Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half. The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...

, had many properties in

Terra di Lavoro Terra di Lavoro (Liburia in Latin) is the name of a historical region of Southern Italy. It corresponds roughly to the modern southern Lazio and northern Campania and upper north west and west border area of Molise regions of Italy. In Italian th ...

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

and

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

. His father was the brother of Luisa Sipari, the mother of

Benedetto Croce Benedetto Croce (; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952) was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician, who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography and aesthetics. In most regards, Croce was a lib ...

, and his mother, Cristina Cappelli, came from a noble family. Erminio studied in Rome and graduated in civil engineering at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...

, after which he specialized in

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

. Back in Italy in 1905, he established his own engineering firm, based in Rome and

Pescasseroli Pescasseroli (, Marsicano: '', '') is a town and ''comune'' in the province of L'Aquila, in Southern Abruzzo, central Italy. A summer and winter resort, it is also the location of the Abruzzo National Park, nestled in the heart of the Monti Mars ...

. In 1913, when Sipari was first elected in the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitiona ...

, he took the opportunity to draw attention to the real threat of extinction of important species, such as the Abruzzo chamois and the

Marsican brown bear The Marsican brown bear (''Ursus arctos arctos'', formerly ''Ursus arctos marsicanus''), also known as the "Apennine brown bear", and in Italian, is a critically endangered population or subspecies of the Eurasian brown bear, with a range rest ...

, and proposed the creation of a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

in the area of

Marsica Marsica is a geographical and historical region in the Abruzzo, central Italy, including 37 ''comuni'' in the province of L'Aquila. It is located between the plain of the former Fucine Lake, the National Park of Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise, the plai ...

. In 1921 he was appointed as

Undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

of State to the

Italian Navy "Fatherland and Honour" , patron = , colors = , colors_label = , march = ( is the return of soldiers to their barrack, or sailors to their ship after a ...

. In the same year, he founded the "Ente Autonomo of the Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo", who leased 5 square kilometres of land to be protected in the district of Opi. In September 1922 Sipari opened the Park in Pescasseroli. After, the park was recognized by Italian law (January 1923). As its president, Sipari argued that the

Abruzzo National Park Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park (Italian: ''Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo, Lazio e Molise'') is an Italian national park established in 1923. The majority of the park is located in the Abruzzo region, with smaller parts in Lazio and Molise. I ...

must protect

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...

and

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

, but also allow the birth of

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

. He was able to create and manage a park based on

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

. He wrote numerous articles on the birth of the National Park and also a comprehensive report, called ''Relazione Sipari'' (1926), which at the time was considered the main promoter of nature conservation in Italy.L. Piccioni, ''Nature preservation and protection in Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Italy (1880-1950)'', in Armiero – Hall (ed.), ''Nature and History in Modern Italy'', Ohio University Press, 2010
p. 266
/ref>

References

Bibliography

Lorenzo Arnone Sipari Lorenzo Arnone Sipari (born 10 October 1973) is an Italian nature writer and historian, author of many studies on the social and environmental history, especially on the origins and foundation of Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo. Biography He was born i ...

(ed.), ''Scritti scelti di Erminio Sipari sul Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo (1922-1933)'', Temi,

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin and lmo, Trent; german: Trient ; cim, Tria; , ), also anglicized as Trent, is a city on the Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th centu ...

2011; *Luigi Piccioni, ''Erminio Sipari. Origini sociali e opere dell'artefice del Parco Nazionale d'Abruzzo'',

University of Camerino The University of Camerino ( it, Università degli Studi di Camerino) is a university located in Camerino, Italy. It is the best university of Italy among those with fewer than 10,000 students, according to the Guida Censis Repubblica 2011 and 201 ...

1997; *James Sievert, ''The Origins of Nature Conservation in Italy'', Peter Lang, Bern 2000, pp. 165–181. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sipari, Erminio Nature writers Italian Radicals politicians Italian conservationists Engineers from Rome Italian essayists Italian male non-fiction writers Italian naturalists Abruzzo People from the Province of Frosinone 1879 births 1968 deaths Male essayists