Carlo Montù

Carlo Montù was an artillery general, who had the distinction of being the first Italian war pilot in the Libyan campaign (1911-12). He also served as a Member of Parliament. In sports, Montù was President of the Italian rowing federation (1913-27), the Italian fencing federation (1919-23), and helped found the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) in 1915. He was President of CONI in 1920-21, resigning in protest against Pierre de Coubertin’s request of IOC Members to vote for both the 1924 and 1928 Olympic host cities at the 1912 IOC Session in Lausanne. Montù also objected to de Coubertin’s influence on the members, telling them that Italy might well withdraw as hosts again, as they had done in 1908. When the vote was taken to select both host cities in 1921, Montù walked out of the Session in Lausanne, and on his return to Italy, resigned as CONI President.

Montù was a prominent Freemason, which led to problems with Mussolini’s regime, and Montù resigned from the IOC in June 1939. On his retirement from the military he helped form the Torino Polytechnic and a statue was erected in Torino in his honor. He retired to Como, but after World War II was able to assist with the reorganization of CONI.