Alessandro Anzani was a pioneering Italian motorcyclist, engineer and mechanic, who founded his own engine manufacturing company.
He was born in December 1877 in Gorla Primo (Italy)] and died on 23 July 1956 in Merville-Franceville (Calvados), France.
He arrived in France at some time between 1900 and 1903, and engaged in cycle and motorcycle racing.
1906 Started his own engine manufacturing company in Asnières. He intially built motorcycle engines, then aero engines, with 3 radial cylinders (initially in 'fan' form, and finally in 'star' form.
1907 Produced single and twin cylinder motorcycle engines.
1908 Produced various new motorcycle engines, which were adapted for aviation, being supplied to the Caudron brothers and Louis Blériot. Bleriot used it for his first flight on 31 October 31 from Toury (Eure-et-Loir) to Artenay (Loiret), then to cross the English Channel on 25 July 1909.
Alessandro Anzani's 3 cylinder engines were influenced by the Farcot 3-cylinder engine.
Before the First World War Anzani was producing a range of engines with up to 20 cylinders. However the rival Gnome engine became much more popular.
1911 Anzani established a subsidiary in England, the British Anzani Engine Company. They provided engines for the British Caudron G3 aircraft during the war.
After WW1, Anzani turned his attention back to motorcycles.
In 1923 he sold the company to Henry Potez. In the same year he gained a world motorcycle speed record with Claude Temple at Brooklands using a British Anzani engine.
The above information is condensed from the French Wikipedia entry, accessed 2 March 2020.
See also 'Les Moteurs Anzani' by Gérard Hartman [1] and here for the 'British Anzani Archive'.