Oberto Airaudi

Oberto Airaudi (29 May 1950 – 24 June 2013) was an Italian philosopher and artist, who founded the Federation of Damanhur. Airaudi also went by the name of Falco (Hawk), based on the Damanhur practice of adopting animal names. He was born in Balangero, near Turin, Italy.
In 1975, Airaudi and a group of about 25 other people founded the Federation of Damanhur, a New Age commune and eco-village. Beginning in 1978, Airaudi directed construction of the underground facility the Temples of Humankind. Initially in secret, the Temples became public knowledge in 1992, when a former member sued to regain his possessions from the group. Prior to founding the community, he had worked as an insurance agent.
Airaudi died of liver cancer.