Subject areaProcess and organisation
Camillo Olivetti (Ivrea, 1868 - Biella, 1943) was an Italian engineer and entrepreneur, the founder of Olivetti.
In 1908 he opened Ing. C. Olivetti & C. in Ivrea, Italy's first typewriter factory, and in 1911 he presented the first model, the M1, at the International Exhibition in Turin.
His core choice was to bring to Italy one of the technologies of intelligence of his time, the typewriter, which until then came mostly from abroad. To do so he built technical skills inside the factory and trained its workers, because precision mechanical production needs people able to carry it out.
In the 1920s his son Adriano Olivetti joined the company; he became its chairman in 1938 and took it from mechanics to electronics. Camillo died on 4 December 1943.
Source: Wikidata Q1029394 e Wikipedia, voce Camillo Olivetti, consultate il 21/10/2026, per date e tappe della biografia.
An example
The case below is constructed, because the name does not yet appear in the articles. A manufacturing company that decides to build in-house a technology it used to import repeats Camillo Olivetti's choice: growing the skills in its own region instead of buying them abroad.
Enrico Giubertoni. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0: you may quote, translate and adapt this entry with the author’s name and a link, stating any changes. For commercial use, write to info@enricogiubertoni.com
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