Silvio Benigno Crespi (24 September 1868 in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

– 15 January 1944 in Cadorago) was an Italian entrepreneur, inventor and politician. Firstborn of Cristoforo Benigno Crespi and Pia Travelli. He succeeded his father in running the firm of

Crespi d'Adda Crespi d'Adda is a village in northern Italy and hamlet (''frazione'') of Capriate San Gervasio, a municipality in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy. It is a historic settlement and an outstanding example of the 19th and early 20th-century "comp ...

, today a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

that is considered notable for being a 19th and 20th century

company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...

which reflected enlightened industrialists' respect for their employees. He graduated with a law degree at age 21 and went to France, Germany and England to follow the development of the cotton industry. He also worked in

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, at

Platt Brothers Platt Brothers, also known as Platt Bros & Co Ltd, was a British company based at Werneth in Oldham, North West England. The company manufactured textile machinery and were iron founders and colliery proprietors. By the end of the 19th centur ...

, a famous manufacturer of textile machinery. In 1889 he joined his father's firm Crespi d'Adda where he expanded the village and introduced the construction of homes with gardens. He was among the world's most powerful men at the time and signed the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

at the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

on behalf of Italy.WHAT IS CRESPI D'ADDA?
at www.villaggiocrespi.it At the Second World Motor Transport Congress in Roma 25-29 September 1928, Silvio Crespi proposed to use

containers A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...

for road and railway transport systems as collaboration not as a competition between road and rail systems under auspices of the international organ similar to the Sleeping Car Company for international carriage of passengers in sleeping wagons. He is a forgotten promoter of exploitation the container system in Europe before

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crespi, Silvio Benigno Silvio 1868 births 1944 deaths Italian businesspeople