Renato Alessandrini (August 11, 1890 - May 25, 1928) was anItalian explorer who perished during thepolar expedition of theairshipItalia.[1]
Alessandrini was born inRome. From 1914 he worked as rigger at the Stabilimento Costruzioni Aeronautiche, an aircraft factory of the Italian Army Engineers in Rome. Then, after theWorld War I, he worked at the airport ofCiampino where Italian militaryairships were assembled and equipped.[2]
Alessandrini participated as rigger and helmsman to the first two historic airship flights to theNorth Pole, being part of the crew of theNorge ("Amundsen–Ellsworth–Nobile Transpolar Flight") which was the first airship to fly over the North Pole on May 12, 1926, and the first aircraft to fly over the polar ice cap between Europe and America,[3] and also of theItalia, which made three flights over unexplored arctic regions and flew over the pole on May 24, 1928.[4]
The date of the death of Alessandrini is not known with certainty; he was lost on May 25, 1928, when theItalia crashed in theArctic Ocean during its flight back from the North Pole.[5][6]
In 1924 Alessandrini had a formal commendation and was decorated with the Silver Medal of the Aero Club of Italy for having, on 18 April 1924, returned the aircraft N-1 to landing after that a gust of wind had torn it from the mooring at Ciampino and dragged it away.
On October 7, 1926, the King ofNorwayHaakon VII granted to Alessandrini the Cross of Knight of theOrder of St. Olav, as a participant in the expedition of the airshipNorge.