Umberto Nobile
Nobile Umberto (1885-1978), an Italian aviator, engineer, and explorer. He was a pioneer in the development of lighter-than-air craft and one of the first men to fly over the North Pole.
In 1926 Nobile designed the dirigible Norge and took part in its flight over the North Pole, on an expedition led by Roald Amundsen. While in command of a 1928 expedition, Nobile landed his airship Italia at the Pole. The dirigible was wrecked on the return trip, resulting in the death of several of the crew and the loss of Amundsen on a rescue mission. A board of inquiry, generally believed to have been stacked against him by Fascist enemies in the Italian air force, held him partly responsible for the wreck. Protesting the findings, Nobile resigned his commission in the air force and spent years attempting to vindicate himself.
Nobile was an aviation consultant in the Soviet Union in the early 1930's and taught aeronautical engineering in the United States, 1936-42. He returned to Italy in 1943. After World War II, he won vindication and was reinstated as a general in the air force. He wrote several books on the flight of the Italia.