Today on Oldest Olympians, we wanted to look at Italy’s participation at the 1928 St. Moritz Olympics. Specifically, there are only four competitors for whom we lack biographical data, all of whom competed in the four/five bobsleigh team that placed 21st overall. Of the five Italians, we have full data for only one: Giuseppe Crivelli.
(The 1928 St. Mortiz bobsleigh track)
For the remaining four, we have very little information to go on. For example, Giancarlo Morpurgo’s surname is often misspelled “Morpugo” and he is sometimes referred to as a Baron, but there is nothing else we can find to indicate his true identity. Names might be an issue overall, as Carlo Sem, from Turin, might be a pseudonym. About the other two, Luigi Cerutti and Piero Marchetti, we know nothing at all.
Since this is such a short blog entry, we wanted to introduce a few additional Italian Olympic mysteries. Two of them are art competitors from the 1936 Berlin Games: Piero Fervelli and Guglielmo Giuliani. Fervelli was a painter who entered an unknown painting event with the work “Sciatore 117” (Skier 117). Domestically, he was better known as a mosaic artist, but we do not have any additional biographical information on him. About Giuliani, who entered the architecture competition with “Cabina per cronometristi” (Cabin for timekeepers), we know nothing at all. A third mysterious competitor was an individual that we know only as “Beselli”, who took part in the gliding demonstration event at the same Games.
Finally, as an update to the 1928 St. Moritz bobsleigh competition, we previously noted Horacio Iglesias of Argentina as one of the mysterious competitors. Thanks to Hernán Macchiavello, we have learned that he was Horacio Alfredo Iglesias Baseil, born January 1, 1903 in Buenos Aires, although we do not have a date of death. That is what we have for today, but we hope that you will join us for a new topic next week!