Guido Ucelli

Fervent and passionate advocate for the spread of scientific enlightenment, Guido Ucelli is an example of the integration between scientific and entrepreneurial skills put to the use of science and technology. Thanks to his intellectual and technical contribution, as well as his financial support, two Roman ships were recovered from the bottom of Lake Nemi between 1928 and 1939. The two craft, exceptional in terms of size, technological importance, and archeological interest, would later be destroyed during the II WW. Promoter and founder of the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e della Tecnologia (originally ‘Tecnica’) inaugurated in 1953, Ucelli served attentively as its president until his death in 1964. He monitored every aspect, from the definition of objectives to the identification and restoration of the headquarters, from the organization of interior spaces to the gathering of the collections, from the outfitting of the displays to the didactic apparatus.