Umberto Nistri

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Umberto Nistri (born  September 16, 1895 in Rome ; †  April 24, 1962 there ) was an Italian entrepreneur and inventor . In 1926 he founded the company Ottico Meccanica Italiana (short: OMI ; German  " Italian Optomechanics " ) in Rome , a company specializing in photogrammetry , which manufactured instruments and measuring devices for aerial photography , especially for the evaluation of photograms .

Life

Umberto was born as the first child of Raphael and Letizia Nistri, both of whom came from farming families in the village of Quinto in Tuscany near Sesto Fiorentino . Shortly before he was born, they moved to the Roman district of Prati , where Umberto spent his childhood. After the birth of five siblings, the family moved to nearby Forte Trionfale on Monte Mario in Rome . His father worked here in a military base for the engineering troops . Inspired by his father's activities, Umberto discovered his interest in aerial photography and decided to become an engineer himself . As the eldest son, it was one of his responsibilities to support the family financially. Therefore, he had to take a job as a surveyor at short notice .

In 1915, when Italy entered the First World War , he became interested in military aviation . However, he had to promise his sick mother not to fly himself. So he stayed on the ground and went to the artillery . He was transferred to the front in the Karst in the hinterland of the Bay of Trieste . In 1916, while on home leave , he was allowed to visit his mother again, who died shortly afterwards. He was no longer bound by the promise made to her and applied as a flight observer in 1917. In the 35th  squadron in Veneto Santa Giustina he became a specialist in aerial photography for reconnaissance of enemy positions. He received two war awards for his services and bravery.

His father died shortly after the war in 1918 and from then on Umberto was the head of the family, supported by his brother Amedo. Umberto stayed with the Italian Air Force for financial reasons . A year later he married his childhood friend Lola, who had meanwhile become a school teacher , and gave him two sons, Paolo Emilio and Raffaello (1920–1981).

Due to his experiences during the war, Umberto was able to develop a special instrument with which topographic maps could be generated from stereoscopic aerial photographs . His first patent for this from 1919 describes the photographic cartographer , which was fully developed in 1922. Further patents followed in 1925 (Model II) and 1929 (Model III). At the same time he also developed his first instrument for flight navigation . He founded his first company together with Amedo as early as 1921. The Società Anonima Rilevamenti Aerofotogrammetrici (short: SARA ; German " GmbH for aerial reconnaissance" ), in which maps were generated from aerial photographs, which soon became known under its abbreviation as SARA-Nistri. In 1926 he founded the Ottico Meccanica Italiana ( OMI for short ; German " Italian Optomechanics " ) in Rome . This soon became known under the short name OMI-Nistri.   

The untimely death of his brother Amedo in 1936 and the outbreak of the Second World War three years later meant further cuts to consumer and business type. After all, he was awarded by the Italian military secret contract to develop an Italian rotor machine similar to the German Enigma D . The result was the technically excellent OMI Alpha , which, however, had similar cryptographic weaknesses as its German model, although in contrast to this it had five rotors (and not just four). His machine is sometimes referred to as the "Italian Enigma ". After the war, around 1954, i.e. during the early days of the Cold War , the OMI Criptograph followed , then the OMI Cryptograph-CR towards the end of the 1950s and finally the OMI Cryptograph-CR Mk II in the early 1960s .

Umberto Nistri died in 1962 at the age of only 66. His son Raffaello took over the management of the business for almost another twenty years.

Umberto Nistri has received numerous international awards and honors. A street in the Roman district of Ostiense near the Università degli studi Roma Tre is named after him, the Via Umberto Nistri .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Nistri, Umberto in Enciclopedie on line (Italian). Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  2. ↑ History of OMI in the Crypto Museum (English). Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  3. ↑ OMI Alpha in the Crypto Museum (English), accessed on May 31, 2017.
  4. ↑ OMI at Jerry Proc, accessed on May 31, 2017.
  5. ↑ Ottico Meccanica Italiana in Crypto Museum (English), accessed on May 31, 2017th
personal data
SURNAME Nistri, Umberto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian entrepreneur and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH September 16, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome
DATE OF DEATH April 24, 1962
Place of death Rome