Domenico Agusta

Italian entrepreneur

Count Domenico Agusta

Domenico Agusta standing by an Agusta AG.2 monoplane

Born| (1907-02-28)28 February 1907

Palermo, Kingdom of Italy

Died| 2 February 1971(1971-02-02) (aged 63)

Milan, Italy

Nationality| Italian
Occupation| Entrepreneur

Count Domenico Agusta (28 February 1907 – 2 February 1971) was an Italian entrepreneur. He took over the running of the Agusta aeronautical company following the death of his father in 1927, and founded the MV Agusta motorcycle company in 1945.[1]

## Biography[edit]

Son of Giovanni Agusta, aeronautical entrepreneur and founder of the Agusta company, at the age of 6 he followed his father Giovanni to Northern Italy who moved to start his pioneering aviation career. The family settled near Cascina Costa, Lombardy.[2] He soon became fond of motorcycles, in addition to aeroplanes. At 19, he was among the first to serve at Malpensa in the Regia Aeronautica, the new autonomous aviation armed force.[3]

In 1927 his father died from the after-effects of an operation and Domenico assumed the responsibility of the company together with his mother and younger brother Vincenzo. From 1932 to 1945 he devoted himself totally to the aeronautical industry, with the construction of various models for military aviation.

In 1945, following the provisions of the peace treaty after WW2, which were later reiterated in the Paris Peace Treaties, 1947, the production of aircraft was forbidden to Italy and the company had to face a period of crisis that it tried to overcome, changing the production lines and adapting to build boats and buses. In that year Meccanica Verghera was founded, in order to mass-produce a light-weight motorcycle equipped with a 98 cc two-stroke engine,[4] which had been designed in 1943, but development and production had been interrupted by the war.[2] The MV Agusta models grew in popularity, and under the direct guidance of Domenico, the company developed competition motorcycles that won races and championships.[5] Domenico would often work alongside his mechanics and engineers on the racing motorcycles.[6]

The prohibition on Italian aircraft building was lifted in 1950.[2] Realising the future of helicopters, Domenico entered into an agreement in 1952 to build Bell helicopters under licence.[7] Similar arrangements were made in the 1960s with Sikorsky, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas.[8]

In 1958 he became a Knight of the Order of Merit for Labour.

Domenico purchased the O.S.C.A. (Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili—Fratelli Maserati S.p.A.) company, manufacturers of racing and sports cars, from the Maserati brothers in 1963.[9]

In the 1960s he was involved in a famous scandal:[10] having denied his daughter Giovanna permission to marry the footballer José Germano de Sales despite being pregnant,[11] the young couple moved to Liège where they married on 17 June 1967.[11] Three years later the two divorced and Germano returned to Brazil, where he bought a farm with money from his former father-in-law.[12]

On 29 January 1971, while he was accompanying the President of Finland, Urho Kekkonen, on a visit the Agusta plant, he suffered a heart attack:[13] he died four days later, in his Milan apartment in Piazza Sant'Erasmo.

He was the brother of Mario Agusta, president of the Federazione Italiana Motonautica (Italian Powerboating Federation).[14]

## References[edit]

1. ^ Falloon 2011, p. 5.
2. ^ a b c Caruso, Eugenio (27 December 2016). "Domenico Agusta. Moto ed elicotteri - Grandi personaggi". www.impresaoggi.com (in Italian). Impresa Oggi. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
3. ^ "From aviation to motorcycling". MV Agusta Australia. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
4. ^ Walker 1998, p. 209.
5. ^ Frank 2003, p. 26.
6. ^ Sironi, Enrico. "EMMECI eventi". www.autodidomenicoagusta.com (in Italian). Auto di Domenico Agusta. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
7. ^ McGowen 2005, p. 127.
8. ^ "Helicopters in top flight". Evolution Online. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
9. ^ Andrei, Alex (29 June 2017). "The history of O.S.C.A. - Fratelli Maserati S.p.A". DriveTribe. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
10. ^ "Addio a Germano, il brasiliano che sposo' la contessina". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 6 October 1997. Archived from the original on 17 June 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
11. ^ a b Germano, Bovolenta; Mauricio, Cannone (5 October 1997). "morto Germano, il giocatore che conquisto' l' ereditiera". archiviostorico.gazzetta.it (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
12. ^ Dizionario biografico 2000.
13. ^ Walker 1998, p. 220.
14. ^ Corriere dello Sport, 3 February 1971, page 4.

## Bibliography[edit]

* Falloon, Ian (2011). The Book of the Classic MV Agusta Fours. Veloce Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781845842031.
* Frank, Aaron P. (2003). Honda Motorcycles. MotorBooks International. ISBN 9781610609586.
* McGowen, Stanley S. (2005). Helicopters: An Illustrated History of Their Impact. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781851094684.
* Walker, Mick (1998). Mick Walker's Italian Racing Motorcycles. Redline Books. ISBN 9780953131112.
* Dizionario biografico enciclopedico di un secolo del calcio italiano (in Italian). Baldini & Castoldi. 2000. ISBN 9788880898627.

## External links[edit]

* Agusta mv - Documentaire on YouTube

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Agusta/AgustaWestland/Leonardo Helicopters

Agusta|

* A.101
* AB.102
* A.103
* A.104
* A.105
* A.106
* A109
* A109S
* A.115
* A.120
* A.123
* A129
* AZ.8L
* CP-110
* EH101

AgustaWestland/
Leonardo|

* Apache
* AW09
* AW009
* AW101
* VH-71 Kestrel
* CH-149 Cormorant
* AW109
* AW109S
* AW119 Koala
* AW139
* AW149
* AW159 Wildcat
* AW169
* AW189
* AW249
* AW609
* T129 ATAK
* Project Zero
* Next-Generation Civil Tiltrotor

Meridionali/Agusta|

* EMA 124

Aeroengines|

* GA.40
* GA.70
* GA.140
* A.270
* TA.230

Other|

* Domenico Agusta
* Giovanni Agusta
* MV Agusta
* PZL-Świdnik
* Westland Helicopters
* Caproni

* v
* t
* e

MV Agusta

Motorcycles 1998-|

* Brutale series
* Dragster series
* F3 series
* F4 series
* Rivale
* Rush 1000
* RVS#1
* Stradale 800
* Superveloce 800
* Turismo Veloce

Motorcycles 1946-1980|

* 125 Motore Lungo
* 125 Pullman
* 125 Regolarità
* 125 Sport SE
* 125 Super Pullman
* 150 Sport RS
* 150 Sport RS-S
* 150 Turismo GT
* 175 series
* 235 Tevere
* 250B
* 250 Raid
* 300 Raid
* 350B
* 350 Ipotesi
* 600
* 750 S
* 750 Sport America
* Arno 166 GT
* Liberty

Racing motorcycles|

* 125 Motore Lungo
* 125 Monoalbero
* 125 Bialbero
* 175 CSS-5V
* 175 Bialbero
* 203 Bialbero
* 220 Bialbero
* 250 Monocilindrica Bialbero
* 250 Bicilindrica
* 350 racers
* 350 Six
* 500 racers
* 500 Three
* 500 Four
* 500 Six

Designers|

* Giorgetto Giugiaro
* Arturo Magni
* Piero Remor
* Massimo Tamburini

Racing riders|

* Giacomo Agostini
* Carlo Bandirola
* Angelo Copeta
* Leslie Graham
* Silvio Grassetti
* Mike Hailwood
* Gary Hocking
* Bill Lomas
* Umberto Masetti
* Tarquinio Provini
* Phil Read
* Cecil Sandford
* Luca Scassa
* Bruno Spaggiari
* John Surtees
* Carlo Ubbiali
* Remo Venturi

Other|

* Agusta
* Domenico Agusta
* Giovanni Agusta
* Cagiva
* Hansen & Schneider
* Magni
* MV Agusta Reparto Corse
* MV Alpha
* MV Avello

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