
Vincenzo Florio Sr. (4 April 1799-11 September 1868) was an Italian Historical Right politician and entrepreneur. Born in Bagnara Calabra, Kingdom of Naples in 1799, he inherited his father's spice shop in 1807 and tripled his father's wealth from 1807 to 1829. He entered the tuna industry in 1830 and rented out his Aegadian Islands fishing grounds, introducing the system of fishing with fixed nets and canning tuna under oil. He soon became the intermediary of the Rothschild family in Palermo, where he founded his own bank. In 1864, he was named a senator of the Kingdom of Italy in a move by the government to partner with the Southern bourgeoisie, and he died in 1868; his son Ignazio Florio Sr. took over his business empire.