Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marchese of Marconi (/mɑːrˈkoʊni/; Italian: ; 25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937) was an Italian electrical engineer, inventor, physicist and politician known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based wireless telegraph system. This led to Marconi being credited as the inventor of radio and sharing the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy.His work laid the foundation for the development of radio, television and all modern wireless communication systems. 

Marconi was also an entrepreneur and businessman who founded the Wireless Telegraph Signal Company (which became the Marconi Company) in the United Kingdom in 1897. In 1929, Marconi was ennobled as a marchese by Victor Emmanuel III. In 1931, he set up Vatican Radio for Pope Pius XI.



Marconis first transmitter incorporating a monopole antenna. It consisted of an elevated copper sheet (top) connected to a Righi spark gap (left) powered by an induction coil (centre) with a telegraph key (right) to switch it on and off to spell out text messages in Morse code.



British Post Office engineers inspect Marconis radio equipment during a demonstration on Flat Holm Island, 13 May 1897. The transmitter is at the centre, the coherer receiver below it, and the pole supporting the wire antenna is visible at top