Giovanni Battista Belzoni

Giovanni Battista Belzoni , sometimes known as The Great Belzoni, was a prolific Italian explorer and pioneer archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities. He is known for his removal to England of the seven ton bust of Ramesses II, the clearing of sand from the entrance of the great temple at Abu Simbel, the discovery and documentation of the tomb of Seti I , and the first to penetrate into the second pyramid of Giza.

Belzoni was born in Padua. His father was a barber who sired fourteen children. His family was from Rome and when Belzoni washe went to work there, saying that he studied hydraulics. He intended taking monastic vows, but in 1798 the occupation of the city by French troops drove him from Rome and changed his proposed career. In 1800 he moved to the Netherlands where he earned a living as a barber.

Source: Wikipedia