Robert M. Edsel

Mr. Edsel, who was formally a nationally ranked tennis player, as well as an extremely successful business entrepreneur in the oil and gas industry, sold his company and moved to Europe with his family in 1996. While in Florence, he developed a great passion for art and architecture and became curious as to how all the monuments and great works of art survived the devastation of World War II. What began as a question evolved into an impassioned journey to unravel the secrets and heroics of the unsung heroes who saved the world's greatest art and cultural treasures for the benefit of humanity. In addition to his book, Rescuing Da Vinci, Mr. Edsel is forming a not-for-profit foundation to honor modern-day "Monuments Men," is lobbying Congress to appropriately honor and recognize the "Monuments Men," and has co-produced a documentary on the broader subject which will air on PBS in Spring 2007.