, 20 May 1841 – Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, 21 February 1919) was an Italian engineer and one of Italian automobile pioneers. He was Professor of Hydraulic and Agricultural Machinery at the University of Padua

University of Padua

The University of Padua is a premier Italian university located in the city of Padua, Italy. The University of Padua was founded in 1222 as a school of law and was one of the most prominent universities in early modern Europe. It is among the earliest universities of the world and the second...

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In 5 August 1882 he prototyped the “Motrice Pia”, the first petrol combustion engine (one cylinder, 122,5 cc), almost at the same time as German
Karl Benz

Karl Benz

Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and car engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered car, and together with Bertha Benz pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz...

. The engine was fitted to his son's tricycle

Tricycle

A tricycle is a three-wheeled vehicle. While tricycles are often associated with the small three-wheeled vehicles used by pre-school-age children, they are also used by adults for a variety of purposes. In the United States and Canada, adult-sized tricycles are used primarily by older persons for...

 in 1884. A company called
Miari and Giusti in Padova started produtction of Bernardi's engines and cars in 1896, soon the company was taken over by Società Italiana Bernardi and it finally stopped production in 1901.

After the withdrawal from academic life he moved to Turin in 1917, where he died two years later. Bernardi was later honoured by many ways, museum of vintage cars (Museo delle Macchine "Enrico Bernardi") was opened in Padua

Padua

Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...

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