Ferdinando Innocenti (; 1 September 1891, in Pescia, Italy – 21 June 1966, in Varese) was an Italian businessman who founded the machinery-works company Innocenti and was the manufacturer of the Lambretta motorscooter.
Biography
Ferdinando Innocenti grew up in Grosseto. He was the son of Dante Innocenti, a blacksmith who owned two hardware stores and a small ironmongery (Ferramenta Innocenti) where Ferdinando used to work. In 1923, he moved to Rome with his brother to grow their sales and they found there a booming construction industry boosted by the rise of fascism. The brothers sold metal pipes and scaffolding kits. In 1931, Innocenti opened a large factory in Rome and diversified the company's ventures. At the dawn of World War II, his company was awarded important contracts by the Ministry of War. His factories manufactured 17% of Italy's total wartime production.
thumb|Innocenti machinery, photo by [[Paolo Monti, 1960]]
After the war, he repurposed his factories for peacetime industries and launched the production of the low-cost motor scooter Lambretta in 1947.
Ferdinando Innocenti died on 21 June 1966 of a heart attack at the age of 74.