Robert Ludvigovich Bartini (1897-1974), Italian-Soviet aircraft designer. Bartini was brought up in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War I, he studied in Italy, becoming a member of the Italian Communist Party in 1921. He moved secretly to the USSR in 1923, taking with him the latest Italian aviation designs. In the USSR, he rose to become a leading designer and contributed to several experimental and ground-breaking designs. Photographed in 1973.