Giovanni Agusta

{{Short description|Italian entrepreneur, aircraft pioneer and inventor of the parachute}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Giovanni Agusta

| image = Augusta Giovanni.png

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| birth_name =

| birth_date = 1879

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| death_date = {{Death year and age|1927|1879}}

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| nationality = {{flag|Italy}}

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| known_for = Formed the Agusta company

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}}

Count Giovanni Agusta (Parma, 1879 – Parma, 1927) was an italian entrepreneur, aircraft pioneer and inventor of the parachute. He formed the Agusta company in 1923{{cite web|url=http://www.helis.com/timeline/agusta.php |title=Agusta |website=Helis.com |access-date=2016-02-09}} which became part of AgustaWestland in 2000. He died in 1927. His son, Count Domenico Agusta, followed in the family business, Agusta.{{cite web|url=http://www.propilotmag.com/archives/2012/July%2012/A3_AgustaWestland_p1.html |title=AgustaWestland makes its mark with technology and innovation |access-date=October 15, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407072627/http://www.propilotmag.com/archives/2012/July%2012/A3_AgustaWestland_p1.html |archive-date=April 7, 2014 }} The MV Agusta motorcycle manufacturer began as an offshoot of the Agusta aviation company at the end of the Second World War as a means to save the jobs of employees of the Agusta firm.

In 1907, Agusta designed and built a biplane called the Ag1, and in 1912 he volunteered for the Italian-Turkish War in Libya; in 1913 he was hired by Caproni as an inspector in charge of delivering bombers to the front.