Vincenzo Florio Jr. (18 March 1883 – 6 January 1959) was an Italian entrepreneur, heir of the rich Florio entrepreneurial dynasty, one of the wealthiest Italian families during the late 19th century.Flòrio
Treccani Enciclopedie on line (retrieved 10 April 2018) An automobile enthusiast, he is best known as the founder of the Targa Florio.

Early life

He was the son of the Senator of the Kingdom of Italy, Ignazio Florio Sr. and baroness Giovanna D'Ondes Trigona. He was born in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

and was named after his grandfather Vincenzo Florio Sr. (1799–1886) the founder of the Florio wine and spice company. He was the younger brother of Ignazio Florio Jr. Not inclined to business, he loved traveling and was a frequent visitor of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionMontecarlo and

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

. Luxury boats were one of his passions: in the family they owned five yachts.Florio, Vincenzo
by Simone Candela - Treccani Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 48 (1997) In 1909, he married principessa Annina Alliata di Montereale. After her death to

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

in 1911, he married Lucie Henry of

Épernay Épernay () is a Communes of France, commune in the Marne (department), Marne Departments of France, department of northern France, 130 km north-east of Paris on the mainline railway to Strasbourg. The town sits on the left bank of the Marne ...

, France, a year later.

Career

An automobile enthusiast, he created a real racing team with Felice Nazzaro, and organised races that remained famous.Nazzaro, Felice
by Alessandra Lombardi - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (2013) Florio initiated the financial basis and the engineering plans for the "Brescia Motor Week" in

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

. He had finished third in the 1904 edition, and generously funding the 1905 race, which was renamed Coppa Florio. He donated 50,000 lire and a Cup for the winner. His greatest fame came from creating the Targa Florio race in

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

, based on discussions with

James Gordon Bennett Jr. James Gordon Bennett Jr. (May 10, 1841May 14, 1918) was an American publisher. He was the publisher of the ''New York Herald'', founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett Sr. (1795–1872), who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as ...

and

Henri Desgrange Henri Desgrange (; 31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French cycle sport, bicycle racer and Sports journalism, sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of on 11 May 1893. He was the first o ...

. The Targa also claimed to be a worldly event not to be missed. Renowned artists, such as Alexandre Charpentier and Leonardo Bistolfi, were commissioned to design medals. A magazine was initiated, ''Rapiditas'', which aimed to enhance, with graphic and photographic reproductions of the race, the myth of the car and the typical character of modern life, speed. Florio also raced himself. His best result was the win in the Targa Rignano (

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

- Bovolenta) 1903, named after Count Rignano, thus inspiring Florio to pick the surname-based Targa Florio. His own racing team, however, got Felice Nazzaro to leave

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., commonly known as simply Fiat ( , ; ), is an Italian automobile manufacturer. It became a part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in 2014 and, in 2021, became a subsidiary of Stellantis through its Italian division, Stellant ...

and join as driver, who had won the 1907 race. In 1913 Vincenzo Florio founded the Automobile Club of Sicily, of which he remained president for a long time.

Death

He died at

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He is buried in the family chapel, in the .

Commemoration

Florio was also a painter.Vincenzo Florio, il gusto della modernità
/ref> The exhibition ''Vincenzo Florio – A taste for modernity'' was on display in

in 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florio, Vincenzo 1883 births 1959 deaths Businesspeople from Palermo Italian motorsport people Italian racing drivers Auto racing executives Vincenzo Targa Florio Sportspeople from Palermo