Nicolò Carandini
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Count Nicolò Carandini (December 6, 1899 - March 18, 1972) was the first Italian ambassador to Britain after World War II. During the war he was a member of the underground Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale (the political organization of the Italian Resistance). In 1946 he brokered the Gruber-De Gasperi Agreement that settled the fate of South Tyrol between Italy and Austria. In 1955 he was among the founders of the Partito Radicale. From 1948 to 1968 he served as president of the airline Alitalia.
Born in Como (Lombardy), Carandini was second cousin once removed of the British actor Christopher Lee. One of his sons is the renowned Roman archaeologist Andrea Carandini. One of his grandsons is the neuroscientist Matteo Carandini.
The Carandini family was given the right to bear the coat of arms of the Holy Roman Empire by the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The title of Count (Conte) was obtained by a Carandini following the Battle of Lepanto (1571).