Fiat patriarch Giovanni Agnelli dies at 81

Giovanni Agnelli was the king of Italian industry who turned the family car company Fiat into a global industrial powerhouse, only to see it...

Giovanni Agnelli was the king of Italian industry who turned the family car company Fiat into a global industrial powerhouse, only to see its fortunes fade as his own health declined.

Agnelli was born on March 12, 1921 near Turin, Italy’s northern industrial heartland and home to many of the nation’s most powerful businesses. One of seven children born to Virginia Bourbon del Monte, princess of San Faustino, he had a strict upbringing under a British governess before being sent to the elite Pinerolo cavalry school, also attended by his father and grandfather.

Agnelli was a tank commander in Mussolini’s Army during World War II, serving on the Russian and African fronts, before switching sides following the fall of Italian fascism and assisting in the allied liberation. He was awarded a cross for valour. Often snapped by paparazzi in the company of glamorous women including La Dolce Vita star Anita Ekberg, Pamela Churchill Harriman and Rita Hayworth — he was also a close friend of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. He eventually married Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto, a Neapolitan princess.

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Agnelli became Fiat managing director in 1963, and chairman in 1966, a post he filled for 30 years, steering the company through labour unrest, terrorist attacks, the oil crisis, and not one but two turnarounds, transforming it briefly into one of the world’s most modern and profitable auto groups. Under Agnelli Fiat bought high-end Italian carmakers Lancia, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari and diversified widely, moving into biotechnology, aerospace, utilities and telecommunications.

The group stretched into most aspects of Italian life, with interests ranging from cars to electricity, from newspapers to telecoms. The Agnellis also headed the mighty Juventus Football Club and Formula One champions Ferrari. As Fiat plunged back into crisis in 2002, ill-health forced Agnelli to relinquish his grip on the company and in May he missed his first Fiat shareholders’ meeting in almost 60 years as he flew to New York for his treatment.

A racing car driver in his youth and a fixture on the Italian Riviera in the 50s and 60s, Agnelli had a sharp mind for business, running the Fiat motor corporation—which at one time had a value equal to a 20th of Italy’s entire economy—founded by his grandfather in 1899.

Agnelli was appointed a life senator in 1991 for his part in building the nation’s wealth and for acting as an anchor in its turbulent politics. He was held in such high esteem that he was often referred to as simply ‘L’avvocato’—the lawyer.

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At the occasional meetings, the not tall, but standing straight and still, a silver-topped cane in one hand and his thick white hair swept back, Agnelli attended in his later years, whether a gathering of Fiat shareholders, an assembly of financial brains or a conference of diplomatic heavyweights, Agnelli was sought out for his guidance and opinions. ‘‘I like the wind because you can’t buy it,’’ he once said.

In a cruel irony, the share price rose on frequent rumours of Agnelli’s death as punters bet that with his passing the company might more quickly sell off the car division, one Agnelli guarded as the heart of his grandfather’s company.

A symbol of grace and elegance in a nation which prides itself on both, Agnelli died on Friday aged 81 after battling for months with prostate cancer. He is survived by his wife and daughter Margherita. (Reuters)