Flaminio Bertoni

Flaminio Bertoni (Masnago, Italy, 10 January 1903 - Paris, France, 7 February 1964) was an automobile designer, responsible for some of the most radical reconceptualisations of automobiles ever. He worked in the years preceding World War II until his death in 1964. Before his work in industrial design, Bertoni was a sculptor.

Contemporary journalists often noted that he followed a "clean sheet" approach to design, taking absolutely nothing for granted. His designs met with solid market acceptance; they tended to be designs that observers either loved or hated and were considered by some to be too far ahead of their time. Working at Citroën for decades, Bertoni designed the Traction Avant (1934), 2CV, the H van, the DS, and the Ami 6. The DS was often exhibited at industrial design showcases, such as the 1957 Milan Triennial Exposition.

For a long time after his death, he was largely forgotten in his hometown, but recently the Province of Varese dedicated a museum to his memory.^[1]^[2] It opened in May 2007.