Giovanni De Briganti

Giovanni De Briganti (12 October 1892 – 8 November 1937) was an Italian World War I fighter pilot, seaplane air racer of the 1920s, aerobatic pilot, and test pilot.

Biography De Briganti was born on 12 October 1892 in Florence, Italy to Pietro Guglielmo De Briganti (1857–1937) and Anna Novellucci ( ? – ?). In 1915 he finished his studies at the University of Pisa and joined the battalion of Carlo Montù's volunteers for World War I service. He was sent as a student pilot to the Mirafiori airfield, where he obtained his pilot's license, and then to France for aerobatic flight qualification on Nieuport 11 Bebé aircraft. Returning to Italy, he was promoted to second lieutenant in 1916 At CMASA, he oversaw the preparation of transoceanic flights and carried out load tests of the Dornier Do J Wal ("Whale") twin-engine flying boat in 1930. He was killed on 8 November 1937 at the Pisa-San Giusto airfield while flying the second G.50 prototype (MM.435), which crashed after he made a high-speed pass at very low altitude.

Personal life De Briganti married Alda Ramelli (1905–1947). The couple had two sons, Guglielmo (1929–1973) and Andrea (1934–2017).

Honors and awards

The citation for De Briganti′s Silver Medal of Military Valor reads:

As an airplane pilot, assigned to a fighter squadron, he always has shown himself to be very skilled, indefatigable, and daring. He distinguished himself on numerous and distant reconnaissance missions, successfully completing them, despite the intense fire of anti-aircraft batteries and the attacks of enemy fighter aircraft. On 19 August , after a long and difficult struggle, an opponent's fighter aircraft fell near Voiscizza. Cielo di Adelberg, May 1917–Voiscizza, 19 August 1917.