Emanuele Fenzi (8 April 1784 – 10 January 1875) was a leading Italian banker, iron producer, concessionaire of the Florence–Livorno railway and other railway enterprises, merchant for exportation of Tuscan products, and landowner. Made Senator of the

Grand Duchy of Tuscany The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (; ) was an Italian monarchy located in Central Italy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population ...

and later of the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

, Knight of the Sacred Military Order of Saint Stephen, Pope and Martyr, and Knight of the Order of Saint Joseph. He lived in Palazzo di Via San Gallo,

Villa Rusciano Villa Rusciano is a historic villa in the neighbourhood of Florence, central Italy, which includes work by Brunelleschi. Description and history Set in a hilly area on the outskirts of Florence, the Villa name is derived from the area, once an ...

Villa Fenzi at Sant'Andrea in Percussina, and at a house in the city of

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

Career

Fenzi was nineteen when his father, judge and jurist Cav. Jacopo Orazio Fenzi (1745–1803), died. Upon the loss of his father, he began to provide for the family. Having already proved himself a worthy entrepreneur under his fathers guidance, Count Fenzi acquired in 1805 the management of ''Bosi, Mazzarelli & Co.'', his entrepreneurial sense was rewarded by the economic success of the company. In 1810, he bought a building on Corso dei Tintori and married the daughter of a Milanese aristocrat and merchant Countess Ernesta Paffetta dei Lamberti; they had four children. The same year with some fellow members of ''Bosi, Mazzarelli & Co'' he founded ''Bosi, Mazzarelli & Co.'', specializing in the manufacture and sale of tobacco and gained the monopole of the tobacco industry within the Grand Duchy of Tuscany between 1814 and 1820. By 1821, Fenzi established the ''Banca Fenzi'', which was soon to branch out all over Italy and Europe. He opened a branch in ''

Piazza della Signoria () is a w-shaped Town Square, square in front of the in Florence, Central Italy. It was named after the Palazzo della Signoria, also called . It is the main point of the origin and history of the Florentine Republic and still maintains its reput ...

'' and from 1829 it acquired a Palazzo on Via San Gallo that was to become the ''

Palazzo Fenzi Palazzo Fenzi is a palace located in Florence, Italy. It was built in the 16th century for the Castelli family, with Gherardo Silvani as the architect. The Marucelli family later expanded the building. In 1829, Emanuele Fenzi purchased the ...

'', that had been put up for sale after the extinction of the Marucelli family. The Livorno banking house of Senn joined with the Florentine firm of Fenzi to secure the concession for the Strada Ferrata Leopolda, designed to link Leghorn with Florence by way of Empoli, and the line was begun in 1841, to be finished ultimately in June 1848. By 1845 the desire for a network of railways had led, according to one estimate, to sixteen projects which lay on the grand duke's desk for consideration. Fenzi was also an investor in the Tuscan steel industry and had owned the Gavorrano mine, the Mammiano ironworks on the Pistoia Apennines, and was a shareholder of the "Società per l'Industria del Ferro". In 1835 Fenzi seized the opportunity to finance the planned construction of the railway line between Florence and the port of Livorno, the Leopold railway, with the contractor Swiss French Pierre Senn of Livorno, hence entering into a contract with the Grand Ducal government in 1838. The railway was one of the first in Italy and was named Leopolda in honour of the Grand Duke Leopold II of Lorraine. He had a career as a politician as member of the Tuscan Senate between 1848 and 1849 and was among the biggest supporters of the return of the Grand Duke in Tuscany. After the fall of the Grand Duke he became senator of the new Kingdom of Italy in 1860, having sworn loyalty to the new government.

Family

Emanuele Fenzi was the grandfather of horticulturist

Emanuele Orazio Fenzi Emanuele is the Italian form of Manuel. People with the name include: * Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia (1915–1944), Italian aviator * Emanuele Basile (1949–1980), captain of Carabinieri * Emanuele Belardi (born 1977), Italian football player * Ema ...

, known in America as Francesco Franceschi (1843–1924). He was also the great-grandfather of

Ida Copeland Ida Copeland (''née'' Fenzi; 15 April 1881 – 29 June 1964) was an Anglo-Italian British politician. She was active in social welfare both locally and nationally, particularly the Girl Guides, and was one of the earliest women to enter Parli ...

( Fenzi; 1881–1964), one of the earliest women to be elected to the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

Bibliography

Notes

References to linked inline notes

* * * * The entry for Sen. Fenzi is not dated; but the Historical Archive of the Senate was launched online in 2003.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fenzi, Emanuele 1784 births 1875 deaths Businesspeople from Florence Italian bankers 19th-century Italian businesspeople Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Sardinia