Giuseppe Colombo

Giuseppe Colombo expresses fully the intellectual climate characterizing Italy between the 19th and 20th centuries. A farsighted entrepreneur, he was one of the promoters for the establishment of the Italian electricity industry. In 1883, on his own initiative, the first electrical power station in continental Europe was started on Via Santa Radegonda in Milan. In 1896, Colombo became president of the Edison power company. He also held important political roles: between 1886 and 1900 he served as Deputy, Minister of Finance, Minister of the Treasury, President of the Chamber of Deputies, and Senator of the Kingdom of Italy.