The invention of the radio was not the work of a single person but rather a series of contributions by multiple inventors. Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian inventor, is widely credited as the father of radio because he developed practical wireless telegraphy equipment and successfully transmitted signals over long distances, including the famous transatlantic radio signal in 1901. Marconi received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 for his work on wireless telegraphy. However, other important contributors include:

• Nikola Tesla, who conducted radio wave experiments and demonstrated wireless communication before Marconi but was granted his radio patents later.
• Heinrich Hertz, who proved the existence of electromagnetic waves (radio waves) in the late 1800s, laying the theoretical foundation for radio.
• Reginald Fessenden, who was the first to send audio by radio waves in 1900 and made the first public wireless broadcast in 1906.
• Oliver Lodge and Jagadish Chandra Bose, who advanced the physical understanding and detection of radio waves.

Thus, radio was invented through the combined efforts of these and other scientists and inventors building on electromagnetic wave theory and early wireless communication experiments. Marconi is the figure most commonly recognized as the inventor because of his successful development and commercialization of radio technology.