Franco Tosi (21 April 1850 – 25 November 1898) was an Italian engineer, known for his contributions to steam engine technology. A native of

Villa Cortese Villa Cortese ( Legnanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about northwest of Milan. The administrative municipalities borders Legnano, San Giorgio su Legnano, Busto Garolfo an ...

, near

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, he was the son of Eugenio Tosi (1815-1896), and moved to

Legnano Legnano (; or ''Lignàn'') is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the north-westernmost part of the Metropolitan City of Milan, Province of Milan, about from central Milan. With 60,259, it is the thirteenth-most populous township in Lombardy. Le ...

in 1876, to become the manager of ''Cantoni-Krumm & C.'', where he led the development of the famous 3 hp (1877) and 40–50 hp Ryder

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be trans ...

s (1881), the year which the company changed name to its current,

Franco Tosi Meccanica Franco Tosi (formerly known as ''Franco Tosi & C.'', now called ''Franco Tosi Meccanica'') is an Italian engineering business currently concentrated on the production of turbines, boilers, heat exchangers and pumps. It is located in Legnano ne ...

. It employed six hundred people in the mid-1890s. Franco Tosi was killed by one of his employees in 1898. The company persisted. Other milestones were the first 6,000 kW engine (1904) and becoming the first Italian diesel engine maker (1907). Tosi also cooperated with Emilio Bozzi on his motorcycle development, and supervised building of the first

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

diving at 75 meters (1920). After his withdrawal, the company has entered other engine technologies, and has about 6000 employees.www.francotosimeccanica.it
/ref> Tosi died at

in 1898.

References

* 1850 births 1898 deaths People from the Metropolitan City of Milan Italian businesspeople Italian engineers Franco Tosi Meccanica {{italy-business-bio-stub