Vincenzo Filonardi
Vincenzo Filonardi (23 June 1853 – 17 May 1916) was an Italian politician and soldier of the Regio Esercito, who was the first governor of Italian Somalia. In 1890, he was also consul of the Kingdom of Italy to Zanzibar. Life. In 1870 Vincenzo Filonardi was graduated as "navy captain" in Genova. Later, as Captain Vincenzo Filonardi, he had under his command several ships between Italy and the coasts of Eastern Africa. In the 1880s he was able to create a successful shipping company between Italy and the Indian Ocean. In 1890 Filonardi had been nominated by the Italian  Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti consul and ambassador of Italy at Zanzibar. From 3 August 1889 to 15 May 1893 Filonardi was the first Governor of Italian Somaliland and was in charge of an Italian company responsible for the administration of the Benadir territory, called "Societa' Filonardi". After 3 years of "interim" in 1896, he was named again governor of the "Somalia italiana" for two years more. He returned to Italy after his "Societa' Filonardi" was closed and was created the "Societa' Benadir", from which was later politically created the Somalia Italiana in 1905. Filonardi moved to live in Rome in  1913, meanwhile he wrote books (like "Considerazioni sulla Somalia Italiana" and "Poche osservazioni sul mercato di Zanzibar e sull'opportunità di crearvi un consolato italiano") until his death in 1916.