Count Giovanni Agusta (1879 – 1927) came from family of Sicilian origin.^[1] He formed the Agusta company in 1923^[2] which became part of AgustaWestland in 2000. He died in 1927. His son, Count Domenico Agusta, followed in the family business, Agusta.^[3] The MV Agusta motorcycle manufacturer began as an offshoot of the Agusta aviation company at the end of the Second World War as a means to save the jobs of employees of the Agusta firm.

In 1907, Agusta designed and built a biplane called the Ag1, and in 1912 he volunteered for the Italian-Turkish War in Libya; in 1913 he was hired by Caproni as an inspector in charge of delivering bombers to the front.^[1]