Renzo Videsott

Renzo Videsott (10 September 1904 – 4 January 1974) was an Italian alpinist and conservationist.

Biography

Videsott was born in Trento, which was then part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. After completing his studies of veterinary medicine, he became university lecturer, professor and department head at the University of Turin. In 1929, he accomplished a legendary ascent of the Busazza in the Civetta group of the Dolomites together with a climbing companion.[1]

During the Second World War he was a member of the clandestine organization Giustizia e Libertà and carried out unarmed missions for the Italian resistance movement. At the same time, he committed himself to the protection of endangered animals, in particular the Alpine ibex (Capra ibex).[2][3]

From 1945 to 1969 he was director of the Gran Paradiso National Park.[4] The park is located at the border to France and shares a boundary with the French Vanoise National Park; the two parks co-operate in managing the ibex population.[5]

In 1948, he founded the Italian conservation organization Movimento Italiano per la Protezione della Natura (MIPN; today: Federazione nazionale Pro Natura) and was involved in the establishment of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).[6][7] In addition, he represented Italy in the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA).[8] He died in 1974 in Turin.

References
  1. Luigi Piccioni (2013), VIDESOTT Renzo (1904–1974) (in French), Histoire de la protection de la nature et de l´environnement. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  2. Cecilia Videsott and Elena Videsott (2006), The Journal of Renzo Videsott: The “Historical Archives” Of Nature Protection in Italy in the Period 1944–1953, in: Dan Gafta and John Akeroyd (Eds.), Nature Conservation. Concepts and Practice, Springer, Berlin-Heidelberg, ISBN 978-3-540-47228-5, pp. 46–50.
  3. Luigi Piccioni (2013), Renzo Videsott, de l’appel romantique de la montagne sauvage à la promotion des parcs nationaux (in French), University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende. Retrieved June 16, 2014.
  4. Renzo Videsott (biography on a site dedicated to his memory, in Italian). Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  5. History Gran Paradiso National Park. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  6. Giorgio Osti (2007), Nature Protection Organizations in Italy: From Elitist Fervour to Confluence with Environmentalism, in: C.S.A. (Kris) van Koppen and William T. Markham (Eds.), Protecting Nature: Organizations and Networks in Europe and the USA, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, ISBN 978-1-845-42970-6, pp. 117–139.
  7. The History. Italian environmentalism began in June of 1948. Federazione nazionale Pro Natura. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  8. Una tribuna per ricercatori – I gloriosi anni Cinquanta e Sessanta (in Italian), CIPRA. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
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