Italian politician, businesswoman and writer

Susanna Agnelli, Contessa Rattazzi, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (24 April 1922 – 15 May 2009) was an Italian politician, businesswoman and writer. She was the first woman to be appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in Italy.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Politics
• 3 Family
• 4 Autobiography
• 5 Works
• 6 References
• 7 Further reading
• 8 External links

Early life

Born in Turin, she was the daughter of Edoardo Agnelli and Donna Virginia Bourbon del Monte, a daughter of the Prince di San Faustino and his Kentucky-born wife Jane Campbell. Her brother, Gianni Agnelli, was the head of Fiat until 1996; members of the Agnelli family are still the controlling shareholders of the company. During the Second World War she worked at times as a nurse for the Red Cross, and when transport became unobtainable in the post-war chaos she used her connections with Fiat and the Allied military to establish for the Red Cross a fleet of five ambulances with ten drivers to transport injured and sick civilians.

Politics

In 1974, Agnelli gained her first public appointment, when she became mayor of Monte Argentario. Her grandfather and great-grandfather had been mayors in their time. Agnelli served as mayor for a decade, from 1974 to 1984. The experience inspired her to enter national politics.

Agnelli was elected to the Italian Parliament in 1976 for the Italian Republican Party (PRI). In 1979, still for the PRI, she became an MEP in the European Parliament, from 1979 to 1981. In 1983, she returned to the Italian Parliament, becoming a senator.

The culmination of her political career was her appointment as Italy's first female Minister of Foreign Affairs, in 1995. She served for more than a year which, in the fragile politics of postwar Italy, makes her one of the most long-lasting holders of the office. It was not until 2013 that Emma Bonino became the next female in*bent of the post.

Family

In 1945 she married Count Urbano Rattazzi (1918–2012), and they had six children youngest of whom is photographer Priscilla Rattazzi. The marriage was dissolved in 1975. She divided her time between New York City and Italy and she was long a loyal fan of Robert Denning, of Denning & Fourcade, who designed over 15 homes for her in Manhattan, South America and Italy.

Autobiography

Her autobiography Vestivamo alla marinara ("We always wore sailor suits", 1983) was a bestseller in Italy.

Works

• Vestivamo alla marinara (1975)
• Gente alla deriva (1980)
• Ricordati Gualeguaychu (1982)
• Addio, addio mio ultimo amore (1985)

References

Further reading

• Marco Ferrante, Casa Agnelli, Mondadori, 2007, ISBN:978-88-04-56673-1
• Giancarlo Galli, Gli Agnelli, il tramonto di una dinastia, Mondadori, Edizione 2003, ISBN:88-04-51768-9
• Alan Friedman, Agnelli and the network of italian power, Mandarin Paperback (Octopus Publishing Gr.), London, 1988, ISBN:0-7493-0093-0
• Angiolo Silvio Ori, Storia di una dinastia - Gli Agnelli e la Fiat, Editori Riuniti, Roma, 1996 ISBN:88-359-4059-1
• Marina Ripa di Meana e Gabriella Mecucci, Virginia Agnelli, Argelato (BO), Minerva Edizioni, 2010, ISBN:978-88-7381-307-1
• Gigi Moncalvo, Agnelli segreti, Vallecchi, 2012, ISBN:978-88-8427-236-2

External links