Nicola Romeo

Romeo graduated with a degree in engineering from the Politecnico di Napoli (nowadays Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) in 1899. After that, he worked for a couple of years abroad and completed a second bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in Liège, Belgium. In 1911, he returned to Italy and created "Ing. Nicola Romeo e Co.". The company manufactured machines and equipment for the mining industry. As the company became successful, he wished to expand and acquired a majority of the Milan-based car manufacturing company A.L.F.A. (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili) in 1915. Only three years later, in 1918, Romeo owned the whole company. A.L.F.A. was renamed to "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili Romeo". The first car carrying the Alfa Romeo badge was the 1921 Torpedo 20/30 HP. The company gained a good reputation for building elegant and safe cars as well as aircraft parts, but in 1927 it came very close to liquidation due to a series of bad investments. During a tense board meeting, Romeo was asked to leave the company, although the new CEO Pasquale Gallo persuaded him to stay as president. Romeo officially departed from Alfa Romeo in 1928.

Engineering companies

Nicola Romeo owned a number of engineering companies, not all at the same time. These included:

Ing. Nicola Romeo e Co.

Società Nicola Romeo di Saronno

Costruzioni Meccaniche di Saronno

CEMSA

Officine Ferroviarie Meridionali - OFM

Industrie Meccaniche e Aeronautiche Meridionali - IMAN

In 1905, he married Angelina Valadin, a Portuguese opera singer and pianist. Together they had seven children: Maurizio, Edoardo, Nicholas, Elena, Giulietta, Piera and Irene.