Vincenzo Filonardi

Vincenzo Filonardi (23 June 1853 – 17 May 1916) was an Italian politician and soldier of the Regio Esercito, who was the first governor of Italian Somalia. In 1890, he was also consul of the Kingdom of Italy to Zanzibar.

Life

In 1870, Vincenzo Filonardi, was graduated as a navy captain in Genova.

Later, as Captain Vincenzo Filonardi, he had under his command several ships between Italy and the coasts of Eastern Africa. In the 1880s, he was able to create a successful shipping company between Italy and the Indian Ocean.

In 1890, Filonardi was nominated by the Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti as a consul and ambassador of Italy at Zanzibar.

From 3 August 1889 to 15 May 1893 Filonardi was the first Governor of Italian Somaliland and was in charge of an Italian company responsible for the administration of the Benadir territory, called Societa' Filonardi.

After 3 years of "interim" in 1896, he was named commissioner of the Somalia italiana for two years more. He returned to Italy after his "Societa' Filonardi" was closed and was created the Societa' Benadir, from which was later politically created Italian Somaliland, in 1905.

Filonardi moved to live in Rome in 1913, meanwhile he wrote books (like "Considerazioni sulla Somalia Italiana" and "Poche osservazioni sul mercato di Zanzibar e sull'opportunità di crearvi un consolato italiano") until his death in 1916.