Gianni Agnelli

Biography

Giovanni 'Gianni' Agnelli was born in Turin on 12 March 1921 and named after his grandfather, the principal founder of Fiat. In Italy he was widely known as L'Avvocato, 'the Lawyer'. He joined a tank regiment in June 1940 and was wounded twice. In North Africa he served with an armoured-car division that used Fiat vehicles, and on 13 February 1943 he received the War Cross for Military Valour. After the armistice of Cassibile he worked as a liaison officer with American troops.

His grandfather died on 16 December 1945. The younger Agnelli was mayor of Villar Perosa from 1945 to 1980 and president of the Juventus football club from 1947 to 1954. In 1966 he took command of Fiat and of the family's holdings. Fiat bought half of Ferrari in 1969, Lancia joined the group around the same time, and in 1986 Fiat acquired Alfa Romeo from the Italian state.

From May 1974 to July 1976 he also headed Confindustria, the Italian employers' federation. In 1991 President Francesco Cossiga made him a senator for life, and that November he appointed Luca di Montezemolo president of Ferrari. Agnelli stepped down as head of Fiat in 1996 and remained its honorary chairman. He died of prostate cancer in Turin on 24 January 2003, aged 81.