He was born in Treviso on 5 July 1879, the son of Luigi and Angela Zambon. After attending the Royal
Military Academy of Modena, he graduated with the rank of infantry
second lieutenant on 5 September 1904. He participated in the
Italo-Turkish War as a
lieutenant, being awarded two
bronze medals for military valor, and then in the
First World War with the rank of
captain and
major. He later participated in operations in
Albania during the
Vlora War, where he was awarded a
Silver Medal of Military Valor. After a period as a
staff officer, he was promoted to
colonel on 16 November 1930, taking command of the 65th Infantry Regiment "Valtellina", and then assigned to the
Ministry of Colonies in
Rome. Between 1935 and 1936 he participated in the
conquest of Ethiopia as commander of a
machine gun group, receiving another silver medal for military valor. From 1 July 1937 he was promoted to
brigadier general and assigned to the
XVI Corps of
Milan for special assignments. He was promoted to
major general on 1 January 1940. From 2 March 1941 he replaced General
Giuseppe Cremascoli, suffering from serious illness, in the command of the
27th Infantry Division "Brescia" in
Tripolitania. He commanded the division during
the operations for the reconquest of Cyrenaica and during
the subsequent British counteroffensive in late 1941, after which he was repatriated at age sixty-two, after receiving his third silver medal for military valor. After his command in Africa, in July 1942 he was given an assignment to the Infantry Inspectorate in Rome, as general of the reserve. After the
armistice of Cassibile, he joined the
Resistance with the
battle name "Aryans", becoming a member of the
National Liberation Committee of Northern Italy in Milan, where he directed "Visconti di Modrone" network to protect soldiers of the
Royal Italian Army who had evaded capture by the Germans during
Operation Achse, and later became commander of the CLNAI military zone of Milan. He participated in the meetings of the General Command of the CLNAI as military adviser. However, on 25 May 1944 he was arrested in
Como along with General
Giuseppe Robolotti (commander of CLNAI forces in Milan) by the
Republican Police, who had been tipped off by a traitor, in the so-called "plot against the generals". On 14 August that year he managed to escape from the
San Vittore prison together with his secretary Anna Fondrini Grella, journalist
Indro Montanelli and a wealthy American living in Milan,
Dorothy Gibson, thanks to the help of
double agent Luca Osteria. He then took refuge in
Switzerland, returning to Italy following the collapse of the
Italian Social Republic and participating in the Liberation parade held in Milan on 6 May 1945, alongside
Mario Argenton,
Giovan Battista Stucchi,
Ferruccio Parri,
Raffaele Cadorna Jr.,
Luigi Longo and
Enrico Mattei. He died in 1967. ==References==