Societa Aeronautica Italiana

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The first society in Italy to take the name Societa Aeronautica Italiana (SAI) or Italian Aeronautic Society was founded in Milan on 27 Sept. 1897 by vote of the cultivators. At that time, statutes (bylaws) were approved and there was lively discussion. Copies of the statutes were later printed and distributed to members. Formal elections ended up being postponed at this and subsequent meetings until February 1898 when a temporary president by vote of a management committee of the society's organizers.

The periodical L'Aeronauta, founded in Milan in 1896, was the force behind the founding of this SAI. The original impetus appears to be a paragraph in the Nov.-Dec. 1896 issue of L'Aeronauta that asked readers to respond to the question of when there would be a constitution for an SAI. On the same page, at the end of an announcement about the forming of a society in Strassburg, Germany, was a line stating the hope that there would be as many members in Milan. In the next issue, the periodical promised to include its ideas about an SAI in coming issues. The Almanacco Italiano for 1898 says a committee was formed in Milan on 15 Aug, 1897 to promote the establishment of a Societa Aeronautica Italiana. Acceptances poured in to the offices of L'Aeronauta and the promoters founded the Society on 27 Sept 1897 in Milan. Voting at the meeting: Count Almerico da Schio, Sig. Bollini, Ten. Castagneris, Ing. Fontana, Ing. Possi, Ten. Vilardi, and the industrialist Alfonso Negri. Others named as involved included military officers, doctors, professors, and engineers. It appears that formal elections ended up being postponed at this and subsequent meetings until February 1898 when Sig. Vialarde, director of L'Aeronauta, was named temporary president by vote of a management committee of the society's organizers.

1910 Brockett 783 identified the 1897 Societa Aeronautica Italiana as the Milan section of the Societa Aeronautica Italiana, founded at Rome in 1904, based on an article in the August-September 1897 issue of L'Aeronauta about the Societa Aeronautica Italiana formed in Milan in 1897. Our research shows that the Milan section of the 1904 Society was established in 1905 or 1906 and we have not yet found any information that the SAI Sezione Milano derived from the 1897 society. For more, see L'Aeronauta, some of which will need translation.

Sources

  • 1 L'Aeronauta 72, 75, 104, 123-124, 148 (1896-1897); 2 L'Aeronauta 24, 59, 116-117 (1897-1898); 3 Almanacco Italiano 453 (1898); 1910 Brockett 385, 724; OCLC Worldcat


Organization names Society Aeronautic Italian : Societa Aeronautica Italiana (1)
Entity type
Country Italy
City Milan
Affiliated with
Scope Local
Started aero 1897
Ended aero
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