Renzo Videsott (10 September 1904 – 4 January 1974) was an Italian alpinist and conservationist.

Biography

Videsott was born in

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 ce ...

, which was then part of the

Austro-Hungarian monarchy Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. After completing his studies of

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

, he became university lecturer, professor and department head at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...

. In 1929, he accomplished a legendary ascent of the Busazza in the Civetta group of the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...

together with a climbing companion. During the Second World War he was a member of the clandestine organization

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 ...

and carried out unarmed missions for the Italian resistance movement. At the same time, he committed himself to the protection of endangered animals, in particular the Alpine ibex (''Capra ibex''). From 1945 to 1969 he was director of the Gran Paradiso National Park. The park is located at the border to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and shares a boundary with the French

Vanoise National Park Vanoise National Park (french: Parc national de la Vanoise) is a French national park between the Tarentaise and Maurienne valleys in the French Alps, containing the Vanoise massif. It was created in 1963 as the first national park in France. ...

; the two parks co-operate in managing the ibex population. In 1948, he founded the Italian conservation organization Movimento Italiano per la Protezione della Natura (MIPN; today: Federazione nazionale Pro Natura) and was involved in the establishment of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature ( IUCN). In addition, he represented

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 ...

in the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA).''Una tribuna per ricercatori – I gloriosi anni Cinquanta e Sessanta''
(in Italian), CIPRA. Retrieved May 9, 2014. He died in 1974 in

Turin Turin ( , 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 from 1861 to 1865. The ...

References

External links

Site dedicated to the memory of Renzo Videsott
{{DEFAULTSORT:Videsott, Renzo 1904 births 1974 deaths Italian mountain climbers Italian conservationists