Angelo Donati

Cavalier Angelo Donati (February 3, 1885 – December 30, 1960) was a Jewish Italian banker and philanthropist, and a diplomat of San Marino Republic in Paris.

Donati was born in Modena. Himself of Jewish faith, he was famous for saving Jews from Nazi persecution in Italian-occupied France between 1942 and 1943.

He came from one of the most important families of the , whose origins go back to the second half of the 16th century, when , who lived in Finale Emilia, received from Duke Cesare d'Este the permit to introduce the planting of buckwheat in the Duchy of Modena and Reggio.

Angelo's father, Salvatore, was a merchant; among his seven brothers, was a banker, Mandolino manager of Conceria Pellami, Amedeo president of Modena Accountants, Federico a lawyer, Benvenuto a professor of law philosophy, Nino an industrialist of straw hats in Florence. Among his cousins was president of , a world-famous surgeon, a lawyer and member of Italian Parliament for the Italian Socialist Party and antifascist. Among his uncles was a banker and from 1911 to 1932 member of the executive board of Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde, was a lawyer and president of and the orphanage of and Stelline from 1900 to his sudden death in 1903. His nephew Enrico Donati was an important surrealist artist, who died in New York in 2008.

After graduating in law and practicing banking in Milan and Turin he left for the war in May 1915, he fought in the trenches as a captain in infantry, in 1916 he went into aviation and accomplished many war missions, he was then sent to France with linkage duties between the Italian and French armies.

In 1919 he settled in Paris and became a capable manager of various companies, both in Italy and France. From 1925 to 1932 he was general Consul of the Republica of San Marino, from 1932 to 1939 he was president of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Paris, a duty he had to leave for the fascist racial laws against the Jews. He was awarded the title of Grand’Ufficiale of the Italian Crown and the San Marino title of Commendatore dell’Ordine di Sant'Agata, while the French Government awarded him in 1936 the title of Commandeur of the Legion d'honneur.

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