Marconi, Guglielmo

(1874–1937)

   The inventor of the wireless, Guglielmo Marconi was not only one of the most important scientists of the 20th century but an adept businessman and diplomat. Born into a well-off family from Bologna (Emilia-Romagna), Marconi was attracted to the physical sciences from his earliest youth. Unable to find financial support for his ideas in Italy, in 1896, he patented the first prototype of the wireless in England. In 1901, he successfully sent a transatlantic message between Britain and the United States. This feat, which at the time seemed little short of miraculous, won Marconi the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909.

   Marconi was far from being an ivory tower academic. He had founded a company to exploit his discoveries commercially as early as 1897, and as the military and commercial implications of wireless technology were realized, he became an important political figure. Between 1912 (the year in which he was nominated as senator) and 1915, he played a key role in Anglo-Italian relations and in the negotiations that eventually led to Italy joining the war on the side of the Entente. In 1919, he was one of the Italian delegation to the Paris peace conference.

   Marconi joined the Partito Nazionale Fascista/National Fascist Party (PNF) in 1923. The regime showered honors upon him, including the presidency of the Accademia d’Italia. He died in Rome in July 1937.