Susanna Agnelli, Contessa Rattazzi (24 April 1922 – 15 May 2009), was an Italian politician, businesswoman, and writer. Involved in Italian politics for over twenty years, she was the first woman to be appointed

Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs The minister of foreign affairs is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Italy), Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Italy. The office was one of the positions which Italy inherited from the Kingdom of Sardinia where it was the most ancient mi ...

. She was also the first Italian minister to be Minister of Foreign Affairs and

undersecretary Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is a ...

of the same ministry.

Early life

Agnelli was born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, the daughter of

Edoardo Agnelli Edoardo Agnelli (9 June 1954 – 15 November 2000) was the eldest child and only son of Gianni Agnelli, the industrialist patriarch of Fiat S.p.A., and of Marella Agnelli, who was born '' Donna'' Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto. He converte ...

and ''Donna''

Virginia Bourbon del Monte '' Donna'' Virginia Bourbon del Monte dei principi di San Faustino (24 May 1899 – 30 November 1945) was the wife of Edoardo Agnelli and the mother of Gianni Agnelli. Biography Born in Rome, she was the daughter of Carlo Bourbon del Monte, ...

, a daughter of the Prince of San Faustino and his Kentucky-born wife

Jane Allen Campbell Jane Bourbon del Monte, Princess of San Faustino, Marchesa of Santa Maria (1865 – June 24, 1938) was an American socialite and memoirist who married into the Italian and Papal nobility. She was awarded the Red Cross Gold Medal in 1929 for her ch ...

. Her grandfather,

Giovanni Agnelli 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 contr ...

, founded Fiat S.p.A. She is the sister of

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat S.p.A., Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial ...

, who was the head of Fiat until 1996; members of the

Agnelli family The Agnelli family () is an Italian multi-industry business dynasty family founded by Giovanni Agnelli, one of the original founders of the Fiat motor company which became Italy's largest automobile manufacturer. They are also primarily known fo ...

are still the controlling shareholders of the company. Affectionally called Suni, her British governess used to tell her: "Never forget you are an Agnelli." During World War II, Agnelli worked at times as a nurse for the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

, and when transport became unobtainable in the postwar 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. Having graduated in

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

, she received a

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

from the Mount Holyoke University in 1984.

Politics

Politically, the Agnelli family sought to create a non-ideological,

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

political formation of

Atlanticist Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism or North Atlanticism, is the ideology which advocates a close alliance between nations in Northern America (the United States and Canada) and in Europe on political, economic, and defense issues. The te ...

and

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...

persuasion that sought a modernizing, internationalist capitalism in contrast to the left and opposed to the populist, nationalist, or fascist right. In 1974, Agnelli gained her first public appointment, when she became mayor of

Monte Argentario Monte Argentario is a ''comune'' (municipality) and a peninsula belonging to the Province of Grosseto in the Italian region Tuscany, located about south of Florence and about south of Grosseto. The peninsula is connected with the mainland by thr ...

. Both her great-grandfather and 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 The Italian Parliament () is the national parliament of the Italy, Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Sardinia (1848–1861), the Parliament of the Kingd ...

in 1976 for the

Italian Republican Party The Italian Republican Party (, PRI) is a political party in Italy established in 1895, which makes it the oldest political party still active in the country. The PRI identifies with 19th-century classical radicalism, as well as Mazzinianism, a ...

(PRI), of which her brother

was also close. In 1979, still for the PRI, she was an MEP in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

from 1979 to 1981 and sat in the European Liberals and Democrats group. In 1983, she returned to the Italian Parliament, becoming a member of the Senate of the Republic. The culmination of her political career was her appointment as the first female

in 1995; it was not until 2013 that

Emma Bonino Emma Bonino (born 9 March 1948) is an Italian politician. She was a senator for Rome between 2008 and 2013, and again between 2018 and 2022. She also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2014. Previously, she was a Member of the Eu ...

became the next female incumbent of the post. Agnelli 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. One of her first meetings was with then

United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...

Warren Christopher Warren Minor Christopher (October 27, 1925March 18, 2011) was an American attorney, diplomat and statesman who served as the 63rd United States secretary of state from 1993 to 1997. Born in Scranton, North Dakota, Christopher clerked for Supre ...

. Agnelli was active in

environmentalist Environmentalism is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of Green politics, g ...

causes. Between the 1970s and 1980s, she was president of the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the ...

and was the only Italian member of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

(UN) World Commission for the Environment and Development (

Brundtland Report __NOTOC__ ''Our Common Future'', also known as the Brundtland Report, was published in October 1987 by the United Nations through the Oxford University Press. This publication was in recognition of Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Norwegian Prime Mi ...

), later known as the

Brundtland Commission The Brundtland Commission, formerly the World Commission on Environment and Development, was a sub-organization of the United Nations (UN) that aimed to unite countries in pursuit of sustainable development. It was founded in 1983 when Javier Pér ...

. She also sat on the first board of the UN International Institute for Ageing. Her mayoralty, which included a local

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

alliance between the self-styled PRI party of enlightened capitalism and the

Italian Communist Party The Italian Communist Party (, PCI) was a communist and democratic socialist political party in Italy. It was established in Livorno as the Communist Party of Italy (, PCd'I) on 21 January 1921, when it seceded from the Italian Socialist Part ...

, a party that held high esteem for her anti-speculation efforts, was characterized by soil defence. As a mayor, she also expressed her favourable view about the new

abortion law in Italy Abortion in Italy became legal in May 1978, when Italy, Italian women were allowed to terminate a pregnancy on request during the first 12 weeks and 6 days (90 days). A proposal to repeal the law was considered in a 1981 Italian referendums, 1981 ...

that legalized abortion, for which the city's bishop excommunicated her. From the early 1990s, Agnelli was president of the Steering Committee of

Telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other cause. Most telethons feature heavy solicitatio ...

, which was founded in Italy in 1990. In 1997, she set up the Il Faro Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to help Italian and foreign young people in difficulty in the labour market. She had a popular mail column titled "Private answers" in the weekly magazine '' Oggi''. In an interview to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' several years before her death, Agnelli discussed the most difficult part of politics. She said: "Sitting for days listening to people talk, talk, talk. Male politicians can stand up and talk to an empty house, where there are six people reading newspapers. I could never do that. It's such a waste of time."

Personal life and death

In 1945, Agnelli married Count Urbano Rattazzi Jr. (1918–2012), the great-grandson of two-time prime minister

Urbano Rattazzi Urbano Pio Francesco Rattazzi (; 29 June 1808 5 June 1873) was an Italian politician and statesman. Personal life He was born in Alessandria, Piedmont. He studied law at Turin, and in 1838 began his practice, which met with marked success at t ...

of the

Historical Left The Left group (), later called Historical Left () by historians to distinguish it from the left-wing groups of the 20th century, was a liberal and reformist parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group ...

. They had six children, the youngest of whom is photographer Priscilla Rattazzi, who said Agnelli loved

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Until 1960, they lived in Argentina. The marriage was dissolved in 1975. She divided her time between New York and Italy, and she was long a loyal fan of

Robert Denning Robert Denning (March 13, 1927 – August 26, 2005) was an American interior designer whose lush interpretations of French Victorian decor became an emblem of corporate raider tastes in the 1980s. Early life Denning was born Robert Dennis ...

, of Denning & Fourcade, who designed over 15 homes for her in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, and Italy. Agnelli died in Rome on 15 May 2009, aged 87. From 3 April 2009, she had been hospitalized at the Agostino Gemelli University Policlinic for over a month after severe femoral trauma due to an accidental fall at home. After her death, she was mourned among the main political and cultural actors. Journalist

Enzo Biagi Enzo Biagi (; 9 August 1920 – 6 November 2007) was an Italian journalist, writer and former partisan. Life and career Biagi was born in Lizzano in Belvedere, and began his career as a journalist in Bologna. In 1952, he worked on the screenpl ...

described Agnelly thusly: "They call her Suni; she is a courageous woman who above all has one merit: sincerity. Sometimes, in interviews, she too can say hasty things: but she's not a hypocrite or flatterer, she doesn't calculate. In forty days she wrote a book of memories, some even unpleasant: We Dressed in the Sailor Suit. It has sold 255,000 copies, has been translated into other languages, and won the Bancarella Prize."

Books

Agnelli wrote a number of books including ''Vestivamo alla marinara'' (1975), ''Gente alla deriva ''(1980), ''Ricordati Gualeguaychu ''(1982), ''Addio, addio mio ultimo amore'' (1985), and ''Questo libro è tuo'' (1993). Her 1975 autobiography was a bestseller in Italy and won the Premio Bancarella.

In popular culture

In 2022, Agnelli was the subject of an episode of the

RAI (), commercially styled as since 2000 and known until 1954 as (RAI), is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terrestrial and subscription television channels a ...

docu-series ''Illuminate''.

Electoral history

Honours

Honorary Member of the Xirka Ġieħ ir-Repubblika, 18 December 1995. * Cordone_di_gran_Croce_OMRI_BAR

Knight Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

, 21 May 1996.

References

External links

Agnelli Susanna
at 150anni.it (in Italian)
Agnelli, Susanna (1922—)
at

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(in English)
Agnèlli, Susanna
at Sapere.it by

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(in Italian)
Susanna Agnelli
at ''Biografie online'' (in Italian)
Susanna Agnelli
at ''

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'' (in English)
Susanna Agnelli
at ''BeWeB'' by the

Episcopal Conference of Italy The Italian Episcopal Conference () or CEI is the episcopal conference of the Italian bishops of the Catholic Church. The conference was founded in 1971 and carries out various tasks, including setting the national liturgical norms for the Mass ...

(in Italian)
Susanna Agnelli
at Camera.it (in Italian)
Susanna Agnelli
at

(in Italian)
Susanna Agnelli
at Senato.it (in Italian)
Susanna Agnelli
at

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(in Italian)
Susanna Agnelli, una vita per immagini
at ''

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'' (in Italian)
Uno sguardo sulla vita di Susanna Agnelli
at

(in Italian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Agnelli, Susanna 1922 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Italian women politicians 20th-century Italian women writers 20th-century Italian writers Susanna Bancarella Prize winners Deputies of Legislature VII of Italy Deputies of Legislature VIII of Italy Female foreign ministers Ministers of foreign affairs of Italy Countesses in Italy Italian people of American descent Italian Republican Party politicians Italian women diplomats Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Mayors of places in Tuscany Nobility from Turin Politicians from Turin Senators of Legislature IX of Italy Senators of Legislature X of Italy Women government ministers of Italy Women members of the Chamber of Deputies (Italy) Women members of the Senate of the Republic (Italy)