Umberto Nobile (Lauro, Avellino 1885 – Rome 1978) was one of the key figures in the history of flight. A General in the Italian Royal Air Force, Nobile designed air ships all over the world, but he is mostly known for having flown across the North Pole twice. The first time was in 1926 at the request of Norway with the air ship NORGE, which he designed and commanded. The second time was in 1928 on an entirely Italian expedition aboard the air ship ITALIA. This last expedition ended dramatically when the ITALIA crashed into the ice due to adverse meteorological conditions, and the survivors were rescued after forty-eight days spent in the legendary “Red Tent.” The event and the subsequent fiery controversy tarnished Nobile’s fame, and after being accused by the fascist regime he decided to volantarily go into exile and move to the Soviet Union where he worked for five years building air ships. At the end of 1936 he decided to go back to Italy, but due to political and personal difficulties he decided to leave again after accepting an offer to work in the United States. After the fall of Fascism in Italy in July of 1943, he moved back to Italy definitively and from 1946 to 1948 was an independent representative in the Constituent Assembly of Italy. His role in history and his accomplishments have been re-evaluated over the years and Nobile has been recognized for what he really was: a genius engineer, an able aviator, and an untiring explorer. Talent, inventiveness, and passion were the key personality traits of Nobile; this combined with the fact that this extraordinary individual was from the Italian hinterland moved Giuliano Mazzuoli to create a pen in his honor.
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