Born in Bologna on 19 November 1890, Berti attended the Liceo Galvani before enrolling in the Faculty of Law at the University of Bologna, where he graduated on 28 May 1913 with a thesis entitled “Immobilisation by destination and its consequences in civil law”. Although declared unfit for military service at his medical examination, he volunteered for the front during the Great War as he was a fervent interventionist. Discharged with the rank of infantry officer cadet from the Military Academy of Modena, in 1915 he was assigned to the Saluzzo Battalion of the second Alpine Regiment. After two long years of war, due to the worsening of his heart condition, he was rushed to hospital and then declared unfit for any service. Honourably discharged in 1917 with the rank of captain and company commander, he devoted himself to the legal profession in his father’s law firm. In 1922, on his initiative, the Bologna’s branch of the National Alpine Association was inaugurated. He died in Bologna on 14 April 1931.
Berti was a pioneer of football in Bologna, playing for the Società Sportiva Studentesca. Despite suffering from heart problems from a young age, he never gave up sport, football and, in particular, mountaineering, which he also practised within the University Section of the CAI (Italian Alpine Club)
CAPTIONS
1 - The Bologna FC line-up in a friendly match played in 1910-11.
2 - Degree certificate.
3 - University transcript.