Cristoforo Benigno Crespi
Encyclopedia
Cristoforo Benigno Crespi (Busto Arsizio
, 18 October 1833 – Milan
, 5 January 1920) was an Italian
entrepreneur
. In 1897 a cotton textile industry was created in the province of Milan
and his factory and its worker village, called Crespi d’Adda was built on the left bank of the river Adda
between the towns of Capriate San Gervasio
and Canonica d’Adda where the flow of water provided hydro electric energy to power the cotton looms. It was in full production until the economic crash of 1929 when the family went bankrupt but was still producing in limited output up until its closure in 2004. Descendants of the original workers still live in the village. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. His son, Silvio Benigno Crespi, was among the world's most powerful men at the time and signed the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the First World War on behalf of Italy.
Busto Arsizio
Busto Arsizio is a city and comune in the region of Lombardy, in northern Italy, 25 km north of Milan in the province of Varese.The economy of Busto Arsizio is mainly based on industry and commerce.-History:...
, 18 October 1833 – Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, 5 January 1920) was an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
. In 1897 a cotton textile industry was created in the province of Milan
Province of Milan
The Province of Milan : /) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Milan. The provincial territory is highly urbanized, resulting in the third highest population density among the Italian provinces with more than 2,000 inhabitants/km2, just behind the provinces of...
and his factory and its worker village, called Crespi d’Adda was built on the left bank of the river Adda
Adda River
The Adda is a river in North Italy, a tributary of the Po. It rises in the Alps near the border with Switzerland and flows through Lake Como. The Adda joins the Po a few kilometres upstream of Cremona. It is 313 kilometres long...
between the towns of Capriate San Gervasio
Capriate San Gervasio
Capriate San Gervasio is a comune in the province of Bergamo, in Lombardy, Italy.It is situated on the southern tip of the so-called Bergamasca Island, a territory delimited by the rivers Adda and Brembo. It includes three frazioni at slightly different altitudes, San Gervasio d'Adda , Capriate...
and Canonica d’Adda where the flow of water provided hydro electric energy to power the cotton looms. It was in full production until the economic crash of 1929 when the family went bankrupt but was still producing in limited output up until its closure in 2004. Descendants of the original workers still live in the village. It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. His son, Silvio Benigno Crespi, was among the world's most powerful men at the time and signed the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the First World War on behalf of Italy.