Oreste Arpe

Oreste Arpe was from La Spezia and represented the local club “Pro Patria”. When he started his career as a soldier in the Railway Engineer Brigade, he was wearing the colours of C. S. Audace. He was at least twice Italian Champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, 1912 in the 80 kg class and 1919 in the >82.5 kg class. Other sources indicate additional titles in 1910 and 1918. At the 1912 Olympics, he was confronted by Finnish in all his three bouts. After beating Oskar Kumpu and Lennart Lind by fall, he was shouldered by August Rajala after just one minute in round three and withdrew. In the rank of a private, Arpe competed in the 1919 Interallied Games in the heavyweight class.

Together with his father-in-law, Arpe constructed the former Iris lido in La Spezia, which was completed in 1915 and demolished in 1958. Prior to the liberation in 1945, he was a member of the Italian resistance movement.