During World War II, Sogno worked to resist Nazi forces and Fascists in Italy. He was captured four times, but each time was rescued by Allied forces. In his most daring operation, Sogno dressed up as a German officer and walked into a Milan hotel. He walked out with an Italian prisoner of war. He also helped lead hundreds of Italian Jews to safety in Switzerland.
After the war, he became a diplomat and was posted to Argentina, France, the U.S., England, and Hungary — where, during the 1956 Soviet assault on Budapest to put down an anti-Communist uprising, Sogno went back to work as a resistance fighter, helping the uprising’s leaders to flee the country. Sogno died August 5 at home in Turin from heart failure. He was 85.