Nicola Romeo was an Italian engineer and an entrepreneur.
Nicola graduated with a degree in engineering from the Politecnico di Torino in 1899. After that, he worked for a couple of years abroad and completed a second bachelor degree in electrical engineering in Liège, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. 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 wanted to expand and acquired a majority of Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 based car manufacturing company A.L.F.A. in 1915. Only three years later, in 1918, the whole company was under Nicola Romeos ownership. A.L.F.A. was renamed to "Società Anonima Italiana Ing. Nicola Romeo". The first car carrying the Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...

 badge was the 1921 Torpedo 20/30 HP. The company gained a good reputation but in 1927 came very close to liquidation. These changes "forced" him to leave in 1928.

In his private life he was married to Portuguese

Portuguese people

The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....

 Angelina Valadin and fathered seven children; Maurizio, Edoardo, Nicholas, Elena, Giulietta, Piera and Irene.

Nicola Romeo died on 15 August 1938 in his home at Lake Como

Lake Como

Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...

 at the age of 62.

Almost seventy years later, with the 130th anniversary of his birth, Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

dedicated a street to the memory of Nicola Romeo, called Via Nicola Romeo.