The name of George Rose, known to older generations, has returned to the limelight thanks to the Netflix film that reconstructs his life and work. In fact, Rosa was a famous Italian engineer who went down in Italian history for dreaming, conceiving, designing and creatingIsland of Roses.
The artificial island, built from steel 12 kilometers off the coast of Rimini – that is, in extraterritorial waters – from 1964 onwards, soon became a micronation. A story that is incredible and that after 50 years still amazes those who did not know it. Built as it was, the Isle of Roses took off with a bang. Literally. Was blown up with 2 tons of explosives and in a short time with a storm surge the rest was swallowed up by the sea.
From the creativity, from the ingenuity and even a little from the madness of George Rose all we have left is the story. here you are Who was Giorgio Rosa? and the history of his revolutionary idea.
Who was Giorgio Rosa: engineer dreamer and personal life
Giorgio Rosa will go down in history as the builder of Isola delle Rosa. But who was it? George Rose was born in Bologna on May 7, 1925. In 1950, at the age of 25, he graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering with a car he had built as his thesis. He first worked for Ducati, then founded his own studio and began collaborating as an expert with the Bologna court. He also began teaching at the local Technical Institute in the mid-1950s and married Gabriella Clerici during the same period
Even before that he was described as “visionary”.Island of Roses, the construction of the micronation only confirmed this image of him. He was also accused of being a fascist because he enrolled as a young man in the Italian Social Republic (RSI), known as the Republic of Salò.
L’Island of Roses It was the most iconic project of Rosa’s career. He was immediately supported by his wife Gabriella, with whom he presented the projects to the Port Authority of Rimini. From the union of the two their son Lorenzo was born.
What do we know about Isola delle Rose? The conception and creation
The newspapers of the time reported suspiciously about the creation of the Isola delle Rose. Il Messaggero of 1968 (Wednesday 26 June), the day after the Italian law enforcement occupation – wrote:
The island was born in 1964 by Eng. Giorgio Rosa, living in Bologna, in order – as the master builder said at the time – to test a new construction technique on the open sea with concrete and steel.
Since its appearance, the general notion that the artificial island was nothing more than a pirate radio was very common at the time. In reality, the idea of the Rimini offshore platform was nothing more than an entrepreneurial project. This should say activities, shops, hotels or a real tourist attraction.
Soon the glory ofIsland of Roses it attracted Italian and non-Italian tourists and brought with it mysteries as well. Why was it created? Perhaps, some believed, it housed Russian spies and missiles.
What happened to Isola delle Rose?
On May 1, 1968, theIsland of Roseshad declared its independence after various vicissitudes. It wasn’t easy, at least not as easy as destroying it.
The micronation had its own language and currency, even its own postage stamps, but precisely because of this autonomy, Italian politics did not go down well. The June 25, 1968 The island is militarily occupied. After months of fighting with naturalization applications from abroad, the Isola delle Rose was demolished between February 11 and 13, 1969.
To do this, the police used 2 tons of explosives and a few weeks later the remains of the concrete and steel skeleton sank along with Giorgio Rosa’s vision.