Lieutenant General Massimo Panizzi was born in Marina di Carrara (Italy). He entered the Military Academy of Modena in 1981, where he attended the 163rd Course.

As a Mountain Troops (Alpini) Officer, he started his career as Company Commander in the Alpini Battalion “L’Aquila” in L’Aquila, then he was Company Commander in the “Mondovì” Battalion in Cuneo and in the Alpine Military School in Aosta.
In 1994, he attended the 120th Staff Course at the Civitavecchia War College.

He later held Staff positions both at General Affairs Office and Public Information Office of the Italian Army General Staff and at the Army Training and Specialization Inspectorate in Rome.

In 1998-1999, he attended the 1st Course of the Joint Services Senior Staff College (ISSMI) in Rome.

In 2001, he commanded the “Susa” Alpini Battalion in Pinerolo.

From 2005 to 2007, he commanded the 8th Alpini Regiment in Cividale del Friuli (Udine), supervising the establishment and validation of the Multinational Regiment of the European Union Battle Group based on the Alpine Brigade "Julia".

In 2008, as a Colonel, he attended the Centre for High Military Studies (CHEM) and the Institute for High Studies of the National Defence (IHEDN) at The École Militaire in Paris.

From 2008 to 2011, he served as Spokesperson and Communications Advisor to the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee and he was also appointed as Head of the Strategic Communications Office of the NATO International Military Staff (IMS) in Brussels.

Later, he was Head of the Strategic Communications Project within the Italian Ministry of Defense and then he led the Press and Communication Office of the Ministry of Defence, until August 2013. In this position, he introduced the first Ministerial Directive on Defence Strategic Communications.

From 2013 to 2015, as a Brigadier General, he commanded the Alpini Brigade “Taurinense”, managing and establishing the Joint Italian-French Brigade HQ, for deployment under the auspices of EU, NATO and UN. For this achievement, in April 2016, he was awarded the “Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur” Medal by the President of the French Republic.

In autumn 2014, he directed the operations of the Brigade's units engaged in the relief operations for communities affected by floods in Liguria and Piemonte regions. The Alpine Brigade "Taurinense," under his leadership, obtained, among others, the Honorary Citizenship of the City of Turin and implemented education and training agreements with the United Nations Staff College (UNSSC).

From 2015 to 2016, he served at the Italian Army Training Command and Application School in Turin, where he held the positions of Chief of Staff, Deputy Training Commander and Course Department Commander. During this period, he promoted historical/training/cultural permanent initiatives with associations such as the Cavour Foundation, the Academy of Sciences and the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI).

From January to July 2016, he also served as the Interregional Commander of the Northern Italy Military Region in Turin. In that position, he developed cultural and infrastructure projects with the City of Turin and the Piemonte Region, including the setting up of the new National Artillery Museum at the Citadel fortified tower.

From July 2016 to May 2018, as the Deputy Commander for the Territory of the Alpine Troops Command in Bolzano, he supervised its reorganization into a multifunctional Command.

He took part in overseas missions, with both NATO IFOR and SFOR contingents in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996-1997). He led the Alpine Battalion "Susa" in Kosovo (2001) and, later (2002-2003), he served as Spokesperson for KFOR, the NATO-led International Military Contingent in Kosovo. In 2004, he took part in the "Ancient Babylon" Operation in Baghdad, Iraq, as Military Assistant to the Deputy Commander of the US-led Multinational Corps Iraq  (MNC-I).

From June to November 2018, he served as the National Military Representative in Afghanistan and, from June 2018 to July 2019, he was appointed Head of the Support Division of the NATO Mission "Resolute Support"  (RSM) Command, in Kabul. In that position, he was responsible for the whole theatre logistic coordination, for the RSM HQ military and civilian personnel management, for the engineering part of NATO strategic bases (airfields, commands and hospitals), as well as for the proper implementation of the NATO Force-Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Agreement (SOFA). For his work in Afghanistan he was awarded the US Legion of Merit.

From September 2019 to September 2022, he served as the Italian Deputy Military Representative and NATO Office Head of the Italian Military Delegation at both NATO and EU Military Committees at the NATO HQ in Brussels. In this position, he constantly monitored all national dossiers related to the Atlantic Alliance and NATO-EU cooperation.

From September 2022 to July 2023, he was Deputy Commander and Commander of the Military Command of the Capital Region, in Rome, within the Operational Land Forces Command.

Since 21st August 2024, he concurrently took the position of Commander of the Italian Military Geographic Institute, in Florence, the position he currently holds.

Lieutenant General Panizzi was awarded the following Honors and Awards:   

• Commendatore of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic;
• Italian Army Silver Cross of Merit;
• N.2 Italian Army Bronze Cross of Merit;
• Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur of the French Republic;
• The US Legion of Merit;
• Gold Medal of Merit for Long Command positions;
• Mauritian Medal of Merit for fifty years of Military Service;
• Italian Red Cross Bronze Medal;
• The French Defence Bronze Medal;
• Defence Bronze Medal of the Federal Republic of Germany for participating in the "Resolute Support" Mission in Afghanistan;
• Hungarian and Slovenian National Defence Medals;
• Medal D. Alfonso Henriques - Mérito do Exército, 1^ Class (Portugal)
• Estonian Defence Medal;
• NATO Medals for operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan;

Lieutenant General Panizzi obtained the following University bachelor degrees:

• Education (University of Turin),  
• Strategic Sciences (University of Turin),
• Diplomatic and International Sciences (University of Trieste).

He has, in addition, the following Master degrees:

• European Studies at the "Alcide de Gasperi" Institute in Rome;
• Strategic Sciences at the University of Turin;
• International Strategic and Military Studies at the University of Milan;
• Peace Keeping and Security Studies at the "Roma Tre" University of Rome.

He also attended "The Civilian Personnel of Peace-Keeping/Humanitarian Operations and Elections Monitoring Missions" Course at the University "S. Anna" of Pisa.

On behalf of the Military Centre for Defence Strategic Studies (CeMiSS), he conducted and published a Research on the Relations between Military and Non-Governmental Organizations in Crisis Response Operations. He is a member of the National Order of Journalists, as well as of the National Register of Marketing and Communication Experts.

He has written articles and editorials for the following Italian magazines: “Affari Esteri”, “La Rivista Militare”, “Informazioni della Difesa”, “Tecnologia e Difesa”, “Panorama Difesa”, “Scienze e Cultura nel Mondo” and “RadioCorriere TV”.

He is a Skiing, Mountaineering and Mountain Combat Military Instructor.

He is fluent in English and French. He also speaks Spanish.

He has been married since 2000 to Mrs. Elena and they have one son, Karl.