Umberto Puppini (16 August 1884,

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

– 21 May 1946, Bologna) was a minister of the Italian government in the 1930s and a professor of hydraulic engineering.Puppini, Umberto — Treccani
/ref> Puppini grew up as an orphan in poverty, but thanks to financial support from the city of Bologna he was able to study engineering and received his ''laurea'' in 1908 from the

University of Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continu ...

. There he became in the school of hydraulic engineering an assistant in 1908 and a ''libero docente'' in 1912. During WW I he was an officer in the artillery corps. After the war, he returned to the University of Bologna and became in hydraulic engineering a professor extraordinarius in 1920 and a professor ordinarius in 1923. From 1927 to 1932 he was director of the school of engineering (''Scuola di Applicazione''). After the fascist rise to power he was elected as a pro-fascist mayor of Bologna, before the fascist law of 4 February 1926 replaced the elected office of mayor with a fascist-appointed office of mayor. Replacing

Costanzo Ciano Costanzo Ciano, 1st Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari (; 30 August 1876 – 26 June 1939) was an Italian naval officer and politician. He was the father of Galeazzo Ciano. Biography Early life Born at Livorno the son of Raimondo Ciano and wife A ...

, he was Undersecretary at the Ministry of Agriculture from 20 June to 30 August 1943. He was then the Minister of Communications from 30 April 1934 to 23 January 1935. He was also president of

Agip Agip (''Azienda Generale Italiana Petroli'', en, General Italian Oil Company) is an Italian automotive gasoline, diesel, LPG, lubricants, fuel oil, and bitumen retailer established in 1926. It has been a subsidiary of the multinational petroleu ...

. During WW II he withdrew from politics and devoted himself to research. He died of a heart attack in 1949 on his way to give a lecture at the University of Bologna. He is best known his hydraulics research, which was important in construction for drainage projects. He studied groundwater flow both theoretically and in electrical models and developed the method of "fluid inclusion volume" when calculating flood discharge by means of drainage ditches. In structural hydraulic engineering he studied the effects of heat on dams and high pressure pipes. Puppini won the Prix Boileau rix Boileau de l'Académie des sciences (Boileau Prize of the French Academy of Sciences)] for the year 1915. He was an Invited Speaker of the International Congress of Mathematicians, ICM in 1924 at Toronto and a Plenary Speaker of the ICM in 1928 at Bologna.

Selected publications

*I fondamenti scientifici dell'idraulica, 1912 *Idraulica, 1947 (published posthumously)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puppini, Umberto 1884 births 1946 deaths Engineers from Bologna National Fascist Party politicians Government ministers of Italy Mussolini Cabinet Deputies of Legislature XXVIII of the Kingdom of Italy Deputies of Legislature XXIX of the Kingdom of Italy Members of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations Mayors of Bologna University of Bologna alumni Academic staff of the University of Bologna Italian military personnel of World War I 20th-century Italian engineers