Leo Biaggi De Blasys (1906-1979)
Leo Biaggi was a swiss sugar magnate from a wealthy Swiss family. Biaggi was a delegate to the International Red Cross. during WWII, and it should be noted, it was under his administration passports were issued to fleeing Nazis, including Adolph Eichmann (whose passport bears Biaggi's signature), though it always has been denied that he was aware of what was occurring. In 1961, he received the Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito from the Italian government and in 1974 the silver medal of the Red Cross. Biaggi passed away in 1979, though by that time he had lost interest in numismatics, having sold his collection the year before.
Biaggi's descendants, who by this point, were spread across Switzerland, the United States and Italy founded the Bogliasco Foundation to honor Biaggi's memory. The organization's goals are to further the arts and humanities, and offer grants across many related disciplines.
He formed the 20th Cetury’s preeminent collection of Roman gold coins (comprising some 200 pieces) which was purchased en-bloc in 1978 for 27 million Swiss francs by Marco Ratto in partnership with Bank Leu.
While the Biaggi collection was never formally published, records and images of the collection exist in the form photo-plates by Silvia Hurter as well as a manuscript inventory listing the purchase price and provenances for the pieces.
Biaggi's descendants, who by this point, were spread across Switzerland, the United States and Italy founded the Bogliasco Foundation to honor Biaggi's memory. The organization's goals are to further the arts and humanities, and offer grants across many related disciplines.
He formed the 20th Cetury’s preeminent collection of Roman gold coins (comprising some 200 pieces) which was purchased en-bloc in 1978 for 27 million Swiss francs by Marco Ratto in partnership with Bank Leu.
While the Biaggi collection was never formally published, records and images of the collection exist in the form photo-plates by Silvia Hurter as well as a manuscript inventory listing the purchase price and provenances for the pieces.
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Biblio: Hadrien J. Rambach, Provenance Glossary of Coins in the George W. LaBorde Collection (published over three auctions in NAC 91, 99 and 105) (description); https://www.bfny.org/images/user/pdf/GianniMemories.pdf (image and description)