Born in Loiano on 14 November 1893, Zappoli graduated from the Liceo Minghetti high school in Bologna. He enrolled in the Faculty of Law at the University of Bologna in the academic year 1914-15 and, despite the war, continued to attend as an external student for several years, until he requested a transfer for employment reasons to the University of Modena in the academic year 1926-27. He pursued a diplomatic career, serving for more than thirty years as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the second class, principally in Morocco, where he held the post of Consul General. He died in his home city on 15 January 1969.
A defender in the Bologna FC of the pioneering era and of the Sempre Avanti! years, and a sportsman of considerable accomplishment — an excellent skier, runner and tennis player — Zappoli’s career was cut short by the First World War, in which he distinguished himself as an officer of the Bersaglieri Corps, earning a Silver Medal for Valour. He made 12 appearances in red and blue in the Championship between 1912 and 1915.
CAPTIONS
1 - Bologna FC line-up in the 1914-15 season.
2 - Cover of the student file.
3 - Application for transfer to the University of Modena, 22 September 1926.
4 - Declaration of Italo Zappoli’s battalion during the First World War.