"Being the head of a car factory in the 70s was really complicated. Italy was a crazy country, anti-industrial culture and terrorism reigned. Not giving up was a remarkable feat. My uncle had the courage not to abandon a match that seemed impossible to win".
These are the words of Lupo Rattazzi, the son of Susanna Agnelli, sister of Gianni.
The president of the airline Neos, formerly on the board of Exor and Alpitour, recalls, in an interview with ANSA, his uncle, the lawyer, who died twenty years ago, on January 24, 2003. "He was a unique character These days some legendary interviews are circulating on social networks, especially on Instagram, such as that of Minoli. His unforgettable jokes are heard again, "says Lupo Rattazzi.
"
I have a very vivid memory.
To his younger nephews he acted not like an uncle but like a friend.
He liked being with young people, we had the feeling of having a relationship with our peers because he was youthful, exuberant.
He never took the chair.
He wanted to be amiable, put everyone at ease.
He taught me good taste, never to take advantage of one's position, fair play". Rattazzi talks about the lawyer's relationship with his family. "He had great respect for his wife Marella, they were a team.
Su Edoardo admitted that his was a failure.
Margherita pizza?
You have dishonored her memory.
He inherited a lot from his father, but certainly not the style, class and elegance". He credits John Elkann for having been able to take up his grandfather's legacy, but also his intuitions: "Gianni Agnelli understood that in Europe would be left with few builders.
And John listened to him and made sure that Fiat, today Stellantis, could have a leading role". There are two episodes that Rattazzi is keen to tell. The first concerns Gianni Agnelli's passion for football. "In 1982 took me to New York for the day to watch Europe's best players play the Rest of the World.
Jas Gawronski came with us and Kissinger joined us.
I was struck by his energy, his passion. " The second is related to the role of" strict relative,
to which you couldn't say no": "One day he called me at 4 in the morning and threw me out of bed to tell me that I had to be in Fiumicino by 9 because we had to leave with Edoardo to go on an educational trip to Russia.
A peremptory order". There is also a memory linked to the last meeting: "He impressed me how, in a situation of extreme stress due to illness and pain, he managed to exhibit his incredible education.
We were having dinner with him, a friend and I, just a few days before he died.
He apologized because he wasn't okay with him making him polite about him.
To the last he kept sympathy, humanity, savoir faire". A final thought: "he was someone you would have thought would never die,
