Ardito Desio

Count Ardito Desio (18 April 1897 – 12 December 2001) was an Italian explorer, mountain climber, geologist, and cartographer.

Desio was born in Palmanova, Friuli, Italy. He attended the Middle Schools of Udine and Cividale and the University of Florence (1916–1920), graduating with a degree in Natural Sciences (Geology). During the First World War also served in the military corps of the alpini and was captured by the Austrians on Mount Pasubio. He made advanced studies in Geology at the same University from 1921 to 1923, and was also assistant in that matter in that university, as well as in those of Pavia (1923–1924) and Milan (1924–1927). He was Lecturer in Physical Geography, Geology and Paleontology (1928–1931), Professor of Geology at the University of Milan, and Applied Geology at the Engineering School of Milan (a position he held from 1932 to 1972). Concurrent to these positions, he served as a consultant geologist for the Edison Company for hydroelectric plants in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey and Brazil, and the same capacity for the Public Power Corporation of Greece. In 1973 he became Professor Emeritus at the University of Milan.

Desio began geological investigations into certain areas of the Alps and Apennines in 1920. The following year, he made some exploratory trips to the Dodecanese Islands. He published a volume on the geology of that archipelago in the Italian Geological Survey.

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