Sport in Italy Sport in Italy Sport in Italy has a long tradition. In several sports, both individual and team, Italy has good representation and many successes. Football is the most popular sport in Italy. Italy won the 2006 FIFA World Cup, and is (along with Germany) currently the second most successful football team in World Cup history, after Brazil, having won four FIFA World Cup championships. Basketball, volleyball, and cycling are the next most popular/played sports, with Italy having a rich tradition in all three. Italy also has strong traditions in swimming, water polo, rugby union, tennis, athletics, fencing and Formula One.
Gaston de Saporta Gaston de Saporta Gaston de Saporta (28 July 1823 – 26 January 1895) was a French aristocrat, palaeobotanist and non-fiction writer. (Louis Charles Joseph) Gaston de Saporta born in the Château de Montvert in Saint-Zacharie, Var, on July 28, 1823. He was a member of the Provençal nobility. His father was Adolphe Charles François Anne de Saporta (1800-1879) and his mother, Irène Boyer de Fonscolombe de La Mole (1799-1879). He grew up in the Hôtel Boyer de Fonscolombe, a listed hôtel particulier at 21 Rue Gaston de Saporta in Aix-en-Provence, where he resided all his life. As a palaeobotanist, he