Mr Lonati, a giant of the Italian and global hosiery machinery industry, was the technical force behind the Santoni seamless knitting revolution, one of the great textile technology stories of recent times.

Devastated family, friends and colleagues, who described Mr Lonati as a brilliant and generous man, paid their respects yesterday in Brescia, the home of the Italian hosiery machinery industry.

Mr Lonati’s obituary will be published in due course.