Vittorio "Vito" Positano, (2 October 1833 – 26 November 1886) was an Italian diplomat known for saving the Bulgarian capital city of Sofia from burning during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878).

[1][2] Positano was born in the Southern Italian city of Noicattaro, formerly Noja, Province of Bari, then part of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

[4] After the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, Positano joined the diplomatic branch of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Rome in 1863.

[1][3] As Joseph Gurko's forces approached the Ottoman-controlled city during the Russo-Turkish War, Positano, together with the French Vice Consul Leandre le Gay and the Austro–Hungarian Vice Consul, refused to leave Sofia, thus saving it from the planned burning by the Ottoman defending forces.

[4] For his deeds during the war, Positano received an order from the Russian Empire and was made honorary citizen of Sofia, the capital of the newly established autonomous Principality of Bulgaria.