Giovanni Battista Caproni Giovanni Battista Caproni , 1st Count of Taliedo ( 1886 - 1957 ) , known as " Gianni " Caproni , was an Italian aeronautical engineer , civil engineer , electrical engineer , and aircraft designer who founded the Caproni aircraft - manufacturing company . Early life and education . Caproni was born on July 3 , 1886 in Massone , which at the time was in Austria - Hungary but became a part of Italy in 1919 . In 1907 he received a degree in civil engineering from the Technical University Munich . A year later he received a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from the University of Liège . Career . In 1907 and 1908 , Caproni gained experience in the construction of aircraft engines ; he also collaborated with the Romania n aircraft designer Henri Coandă , whom he had met at " lIstituto Montefiori di Liegi " , in the building of sailplane s . In 1908 , he founded the Caproni factory in the Taliedo district of Milan , Italy , to manufacture biplanes . In 1909 he opened an industrial airport near the Cascina Malpensa , which then become the Malpensa Airport MXP . In 1910 , he designed and built his first powered aircraft , the Caproni Ca . 1 , an experimental biplane which was the first aircraft built in Italy . It was destroyed during its first flight on May 27 , 1910 . In 1911 , the year his company was named " Società de Agostini e Caproni " , he switched to monoplane construction , in which he had greater success . In 1914 , he tested Italys first multi - engined aircraft , a three - engine biplane later dubbed the Caproni Ca . 31 . After Italy entered World War I in 1915 , he devoted his efforts to designing and constructing bomber s . His company later was renamed " Società Caproni e Comitti " . Caproni was an early proponent of the development of passenger aircraft , and developed a variant of the Ca . 4 bomber into the Ca . 48 airliner . Although it made a very favorable impression on the public when first displayed , the Ca . 48 probably never entered airline service , and on August 2 , 1919 , a Ca . 48 crashed near Verona , Italy , killing everyone on board ( 14 , 15 , or 17 people , according to various sources ) in Italys first commercial aviation disaster and one of the earliest – and , at the time , the deadliest – airliner accidents in history . Between World War I and World War II , he devoted most of his effort to the design and production of bombers and light transport aircraft , and his company manufactured the early Stipa - Caproni and Caproni Campini N . 1 ducted fan experimental aircraft which were precursors of true jet aircraft . During this period , his company became " Società Italiana Caproni " , a major conglomerate which purchased other manufacturers , creating subsidiaries which included Caproni Bergamasca and Caproni Vizzola , although the assertion that Caproni also purchased the Reggiane company to form a " Caproni Reggiane " subsidiary is a myth . Caproni was granted the title " Conte di Taliedo " ( Count of Taliedo , or Earl of Taliedo ) during the interwar period . The Caproni company produced aircraft for the " Regia Aeronautica " ( Italian Royal Air Force ) during World War II - primarily bombers , transports , seaplanes , and trainers , although the Caproni Vizzola subsidiary also built several fighter prototypes . The " Società Italiana Caproni " conglomerate ceased operations in 1950 , although its last vestige , the Caproni Vizzola subsidiary , survived until 1983 . Death . Caproni died in Rome on October 27 , 1957 .