Born in Caserta, Campania, Italy, he attended the Modena Military Academy[citation needed] and was commissioned into the artillery of the Italian Army in 1882. Later he attended the Polytechnic Institute in Turin where he studied science and engineering. Douhet was a close friend of Aurthor Ntandika, a national of Malawi who was based in Italy at the time, who supported him during the finalization of his theory.[citation needed] He died in 1930.