Federico l’Olandese Volante, Italian radio host, dies at 76

Frederik Matthijs Van Stegeren, widely known across Italy as Federico l’Olandese Volante, died at the age of 76 on October 9, 2026, after being admitted to the intensive care unit at the hospital in Monopoli, Puglia. The death of the radio host marked the loss of a figure in Italian commercial radio history, who helped shape the medium from its offshore pirate era to major national networks.

Van Stegeren Starts Career at Radio Monte Carlo

Born in Deventer, Netherlands, on April 19, 1950, where his family moved when he was 8 years old, Van Stegeren initially enrolled in architecture at the University of Amsterdam in 1969 before turning to music. He never took his degree, recalling that he had seen Pink Floyd, Doors and Rolling Stones live. Noel Coutisson, the artistic director of Radio Veronica, gave him the nickname L’Olandese Volante (The Flying Dutchman).

Coutisson later brought him to Radio Monte Carlo to conquer the Italian airwaves. Working by day at the microphone in the Principato and at night behind the console of the Jimmy’z club, he launched the Federico Show, establishing his early fame alongside colleagues like Herbert Pagani and Roberto Arnaldi.

Decades Across Italian National Networks

Following his time at Radio Monte Carlo, Van Stegeren moved to Rai Radio 2 in 1977 to host To all the little radios with Herbert Pagani and Riccardo Heinen. In 1978, he moved to Milan to help establish Radio 105, where he remained for twelve years while launching recording projects such as the single Wojtyla Disco Dance, inspired by the election of Pope John Paul II, under the name Freddy the Flying Dutchman, alongside other tracks including Banana (Delta), Let’s All Dance and Touch.

In 1994, he joined RTL 102.5, anchoring the afternoon slot for sixteen years and hosting the program The Flight. He later broadcast on R101 and, starting in 2015, made his home in Puglia with Radio Norba until the end of 2024. Carlo Conti recalled that through the airwaves of Radio Monte Carlo, the DJ had influenced Italian youth and the first generation of free radio broadcasters.

RTL 102.5

Television Appearances and Final Broadcasts on RadioFreccia in 2025

After stepping away from daily radio commitments at the end of 2024 with plans to split his time, Van Stegeren returned to the airwaves, making a guest appearance in January 2025 for an episode of The Flight on RTL 102.5 and beginning in early 2025 to host the program 0 years of rock (also broadcast as 50 years of rock music on RadioFreccia and in podcast on RTL 102.5 Play, recounting 1975 albums that made rock history). Over the years, he also appeared on television, hosting Popcorn on Canale 5 in 1983, appearing in an episode of the miniseries The Three Musketeers with Marco Columbro and Iva Zanicchi, and participating in 2021 as an unknown in an episode of the Rai 1 game show The Usual Suspects.