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Raffaele Rubattino (10 October 1810, Genoa – 2 November 1881) was an Italian entrepreneur and colonialist who started a shipping company that ran merchant ships on the routes to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. He was also a founder of the Italian navy
Raffaele Rubattino was born in Genoa the business family of Pietro (1785-1829) and Giovanna Gavino (1785-1831). He attended the Royal College until and he lost his parents and sister Anna Amelia in his twenties. He was then assisted by his uncles Giovan Battista Gavino and Lazzaro Rebizzo. He moved to Doria palace where Rebizzo lived. He worked for Lombard Insurance company for a while and started a transport business in 1833 between Genoa and Milan and merged it with the businesses of Gavino and Lazzaro Rebizzo. In 1840 it became De Luchi, Rubattino & Company. In 1841 their steamship the ''Polluce'' sank near Elba after colliding with the ''Mongebella''. He started a courier business between Genoa and Milan in 1842 along with Gavino. He also built larger ships: ''Cagliari'', ''Piemonte'', and ''Lombardo''. The latter two carried Garibaldi and his men to Marsala in 1860. During the Great Depression, his company formed an agreement in 1881 with the Sicilian shipping company of Vincenzo Florio to form the
Biography (in Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubattino, Raffaele 1810 births 1881 deaths People from the Kingdom of Sardinia Italian businesspeople
Raffaele Rubattino (10 October 1810, Genoa – 2 November 1881) was an Italian entrepreneur and colonialist who started a shipping company that ran merchant ships on the routes to the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. He was also a founder of the Italian navy
Biography
Raffaele Rubattino was born in Genoa the business family of Pietro (1785-1829) and Giovanna Gavino (1785-1831). He attended the Royal College until and he lost his parents and sister Anna Amelia in his twenties. He was then assisted by his uncles Giovan Battista Gavino and Lazzaro Rebizzo. He moved to Doria palace where Rebizzo lived. He worked for Lombard Insurance company for a while and started a transport business in 1833 between Genoa and Milan and merged it with the businesses of Gavino and Lazzaro Rebizzo. In 1840 it became De Luchi, Rubattino & Company. In 1841 their steamship the ''Polluce'' sank near Elba after colliding with the ''Mongebella''. He started a courier business between Genoa and Milan in 1842 along with Gavino. He also built larger ships: ''Cagliari'', ''Piemonte'', and ''Lombardo''. The latter two carried Garibaldi and his men to Marsala in 1860. During the Great Depression, his company formed an agreement in 1881 with the Sicilian shipping company of Vincenzo Florio to form the Navigazione Generale Italiana
Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI) was an Italian shipping company.
History
The company formed in 1881 by the merger of ''Florio, I & V. Florio'' of Palermo and ''Raffaele Rubattino'' of Genoa. At the time of the merger, the two companies both o ...
.
Rubattino was politically active and used his business to advance many causes. He was a patriot and supported Nino Bixio
Gerolamo "Nino" Bixio (; ; 2 October 1821 – 16 December 1873) was an Italian general, patriot and politician, one of the most prominent figures in the Italian unification.
Life and career
He was born Gerolamo Bixio in Genoa. While still a boy, ...
in the unification of Italy
The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...
. In 1869, Rubattino saw the value of the Suez canal and bought the Bay of Assab
Assab or Aseb (, ) is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea. It is situated on the west coast of the Red Sea.
Languages spoken in Assab are predominantly Afar language, Afar, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, and Arabic. After the Ita ...
from a local ruler through Giuseppe Sapeto
Giuseppe Sapeto (1811 – 24 August 1895) was an Italian priest, linguist, and colonial agent as well as a member of the Order of San Lazaro who traveled the shores of the Red Sea and was one of the proponents of Italian colonial expansionism.
...
. Initially only meant to be a coal depot, this aided Italian colonialism in Eritrea
Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...
and the establishment of Italian Eritrea
Italian Eritrea (, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Società di Navigazione Rubattino, Rubattino Shippin ...
by the sale of the land to the Italian state in 1882.
On November 2, 1881, Rubattino died at his villa in Albaro
Albaro is an affluent residential neighbourhood of the Italian city of Genoa, located east of the city centre. It was formerly an independent comune, named San Francesco d'Albaro, included in the city of Genoa in 1873. At present, together w ...
from a malarial fever. He is buried at Staglieno and a statue by Augusto Rivalta
Augusto Rivalta (1835 or 1838 – April 14, 1925) was an Italian sculptor.
Biography
Rivalta was born in Alessandria, Italy, to Genoese parents. In 1859, he moved to Florence, but soon swept up in the patriotic events, he volunteered for the ...
stands at Piazza Caricamento in Genoa.
References
External links
Biography (in Italian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rubattino, Raffaele 1810 births 1881 deaths People from the Kingdom of Sardinia Italian businesspeople