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Giovanni Agnelli (13 August 1866 – 16 December 1945) was an Italian industrialist and principal founder of Fiat S.p.A., established in 1899. Under his leadership, Fiat became a cornerstone of Italy's automotive industry, significantly contributing to the country's industrialization during the early 20th century. Agnelli also served as a Senator from 1923 to 1944.
In 1893, Agnelli returned to Villar Perosa, where he followed in his father's footsteps and became mayor in 1895, a post that he held until his death in 1945; he was succeeded by his grandson, Gianni Agnelli, whom he took care of since his son, Edoardo Agnelli, died in a plane accident in 1935.
During the late 19th century, Agnelli heard about the invention of the then-new horseless carriage and immediately saw an opportunity for using his engineering and entrepreneurial skills. In 1898, he met Count Emanuele Cacherano di Bricherasio, who was looking for investors for his horseless carriage project. Agnelli sensed the opportunity, and Fiat was founded in 1899.
He married Clara Boselli, and they had two children – Aniceta Caterina (1889–1928) and Edoardo (1892–1935). As of 2000, from Agnelli and Boselli came over seventy descendants between children, nephews, and spouses.
During World War I, Agnelli became involved with the financier Riccardo Gualino in the transport of United States aid to Europe in 1917. They invested in two enterprises in the United States; the Marine & Commerce Corporation of America exported coal and the International Shipbuilding Company made motorized vessels. These companies failed when the war ended since they were structured to meet wartime demand but had returned large profits to their owners. In early 1918, Agnelli and Gualino made an attempt to take over Credito Italiano. They did not succeed but joined the board of directors of the bank. Agnelli was vice-president of Gualino's SNIA S.p.A. from 1917 to 1926. In the early 1920s, SNIA began to manufacture artificial textile fibres. Suffering from debt, Agnelli offered to help Gualino in exchange for Fiat shares, and by 1927 he became the major shareholder of Fiat.
In 1920, Gualino and Agnelli participated in recapitalization of the private bank Jean de Fernex and bought a third of the shares of Alfredo Frassati, publisher of La Stampa. Gualino and Agnelli were also involved in a proposal to link Milan, Genoa, and Turin with a high-speed railway and in various projects in cement and automobiles. Their partnership broke up around 1926 due to Gualino's investments in the French automobile industry.
After World War I, Fiat jumped from 30th to third place among Italian industrial companies. The first Ford Motor Company factory was opened four years after Fiat was founded. In 1906, the first Fiat car dealer in the United States was established at a location in Manhattan on Broadway. A monarchist, Agnelli sought to create a non-ideological, centrist political formation of Atlanticist and pro-European persuasion that sought modernizing, internationalist capitalism in contrast to the left and opposed to the populist, nationalist, or fascist right. He was a supporter of Giolitti. Before joining the National List of 1924, he was tempted by the Economic Party for the 1919 Italian general election. He filled several prestigious positions between the two wars and remained focused and propelled Fiat to the international arena.
In 1927, Mussolini felt compelled to warn his superiors, in the words of historian Valerio Castronovo, of "the serious and absurd danger that Fiat ended up considering itself as an intangible and sacred institution of the State, on a par with the Dynasty, the Church, the Regime..." Mussolini was able to impose the Fascio card on Agnelli from 1932, when he wore the cimice all'occhiello. The Fascist secret police kept Angelli under control, and one report stood up in reference to a meeting between Agnelli and Cesare Pavese, who introduced Mila to him. When telling him that he was an anti-fascist, Agnelli was reported to have said: "Better yet..." Agnelli also unsuccessfully tried to help Monti when he was arrested; once he was released from prison, he found a note from Agnelli that complimented him for having been a real man and a true Piedmontese. In the words of Castronovo, Agnelli's Piedmontism "combined the Savoyard tradition, the sense of almost military discipline, and the spirit of conquest: he had been educated in the manner of the Piedmontese nobility, that same elite that initially had struggled to welcome him, dismissing him as a provincial. His Piedmontism, moreover, was innervated by Americanism and a strong utopian vocation."
Asked whether Agnelli could be considered an anti-fascist, Castronovo said: "No, for him fascism still remained the regime that guaranteed 'effective labour discipline' and with which it was necessary — bon gré, mal gré — to coexist in the interests of one's industry. On the other hand, although the Fascist government continued to have an eye for Fiat, Agnelli had remained substantially extraneous to the trafficking of the great fascist bosses." In reference to Agnelli's defence of the press, Marziano Bernardi was more than once called on the phone by Malaparte, who once told him: "I'm stunned! Colli the and Senator Agnelli behave like anti-fascists and I think they are..." Castronovo maintains that the defence of Fiat's autonomy from Fascist interference produced a sort of conflictual solidarity between Agnelli and the Fiat workers, and said: "Perhaps solidarity is a bit of a strong word. But it is certain that Agnelli's afascism and the opposition of the workers prevented fascism from taking firm roots in the Piedmontese capital. So much so that Mussolini unleashed the famous invective against the dirty city of Turin."
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