Francesco Vida (11 September 1903 – 1 June 1985) was an Italian military officer and skier.

Francesco Vida
Born(1903-09-11)11 September 1903
Gorizia, Austria-Hungary
Died1 June 1985(1985-06-01) (aged 81)
East London, South Africa

Biography edit

Vida, born in Gorizia,[1] joined the Bersaglieri corps of the Italian army in 1923. From 1925 to 1929 he attended the Military Academy of Modena, before he joined the Alpini corps, where he became skiing instructor in 1931 and in 1934 one of 92 military academic mountaineers (alpinista accademico militare) of the Scuola Militare di Alpinismo (SCMA; today: Centro Addestramento Alpino) in Aosta.[2] In 1935, Lieutenant (Tenente) Vida, Ettore Schranz and Carlo Invernizzi placed second at the 3rd Trofeo Mezzalama competition. Vida, Ettore Schranz and Angelo Bonora formed the reserve military patrol team at the 1936 Winter Olympics, where the Italian competition team placed first.[3] During the closing ceremony of the event he was the standard-bearer of the Italian representation.[1][4] At the fourth edition of the Trofeo Mezzalama in 1936, Vida, Sergeant Carlo Ronc and Sergeant Luigi Perenni, his team placed first. Later he became commander of the SCMA in the rank of a lieutenant colonel.[5] Later he was advanced to general.[6]

He died in East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Publications edit

Awards edit

  • International Emilio and Aldo De Martino Prize, 1972[7]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Umberto Pelazza: SMALP, ovvero la scuola dell’alpinismo militare[permanent dead link], L'Alpino, January 28, 2009.
  2. ^ "Scuola Militare di Aosta". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  3. ^ Un prestigioso anniversario Archived 2013-12-30 at the Wayback Machine, Der Innichner N° 52, p. 72.
  4. ^ Storia, Sportmilitarealpino.it
  5. ^ "Scuola Militare Alpina". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
  6. ^ Franco Fucci: Tratto da Storia Illustrata n°313 12/1983
  7. ^ Albo d'oro sul sito ufficiale del premio[permanent dead link] (in Italian)