Giovanni Battista Pirelli (December 27, 1848, Varenna , Lombardy , Italy - October 20, 1932, Milan ) - Italian engineer, entrepreneur and politician, founder of the Pirelli concern.
| Giovanni Battista Pirelli | ||||||
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| ital. Giovanni battista pirelli | ||||||
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| Date of Birth | December 27, 1848 | |||||
| Place of Birth | Varenna , Italy | |||||
| Date of death | October 20, 1932 (83 years old) | |||||
| Place of death | Milan , Italy | |||||
| Nationality |  Italy | |||||
| Occupation | engineer, statesman | |||||
| Father | Santino Pirelli | |||||
| Mother | Rosa Riva | |||||
| Spouse | Maria Sormani | |||||
| Children | Pierrot, Alberto, Rosa, Teresa, Margarita, Magdalene, Giorgio, Giovanni | |||||
| Awards and prizes |
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Biography
Giovanni Pirelli was the eighth of ten children in the family of baker Santino Pirelli and housewife Rosa Riva. Five children died at an early age. Father died when Giovanni was 8 years old.
After studying at schools in Varenna and Como in 1861, he went to Milan to continue his studies, where he studied at the Technical Institute of St. Marty (later named after Carlo Cattaneo) in the physical and mathematical direction.
In 1865, he entered the University of Pavia at the Physics and Mathematics Department, where he completed the training required for admission to the Higher Technical Institute of Civil Engineers in Milan (later the Milan Polytechnic), which he entered in 1867. Like most of the university’s patriotic youth, he participated in Garibaldi’s operations against the Austrian forces in Trentino, but the desire for exact sciences prevailed, and Giovanni returned to study at the university, and then at the Higher Technical Institute in Milan.
Production Creation
On September 10, 1870, after graduating from the Higher Technical Institute, Giovanni Pirelli received a diploma and, as the best graduate, the Kramer Prize, founded by Milan aristocrat Teresa Berra Kramer in memory of her engineer son, in the amount of 3,000 lire. This amount should have been used to travel abroad to study and introduce new promising industries and industries in Italy.
From November 1870 to November 1871, Giovanni at the expense of the Kramer Prize, together with professor of general mechanics Giuseppe Colombo, based on an analysis of promising industries that would be useful for Italy, compiled a program for introducing rubber processing and manufacturing products based on it in Italy.
Funds from the Milanese business community were attracted to this project and GB Pirelli & C. was created, the germ of the future Pirelli concern, which Pirelli himself took over. The company was built on the then outskirts of Milan and first focused on the production of rubber products for industry, subsequently expanding the range.
Social and Political Activities
From July 29, 1877 to 1889, he was a communal adviser to Milan. He served as Provincial Advisor to Milan and a member of the Chamber of Commerce of Milan.
In 1909 he was appointed by King Victor Emanuel III of Savoy to the post of Senator of the Kingdom of Italy.
From December 4, 1913 to September 29, 1919 and from December 6, 1919 to April 7, 1921, he was a member of the Higher Labor Council.
In 1919 he was elected President of the General Confederation of Industry of Italy , also known as Confindustria.
Rewards
- Commander of the Order of Saints of Mauritius and Lazarus ( June 11, 1891 )
- Officer of the Order of Saints Mauritius and Lazarus ( December 20, 1906 )
- Officer of the Order of the Crown of Italy ( January 4, 1885 )
- Cavalier of the Order of the Crown of Italy ( November 24, 1881 )
- Cavalier of Labor ( July 10, 1902 )
Family
He was married to Maria Sormani, with whom he had two sons Pierrot and Alberto, who continued the family business.
Links
- Biography on the website of the Senate of the Republic
- Biography (inaccessible link) (Italian)
- Pirelli - President of Confoindustry (Italian)