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Enrico Cuccia
Photo: Archivio storico Mediobanca "Vincenzo Maranghi" - ICAR, Direzione Generale degli Archivi – MIBACT, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons11

Enrico Cuccia

Italian financier (1907–2000)

Enrico Cuccia (24 November 1907 – 23 June 2000) was an Italian banker, who was the first and long-term president of Mediobanca SpA, the Milan-based investment bank, and a significant figure in the history of capitalism in Italy.2

From Wikipedia’s article on Enrico Cuccia (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Born Nov 24, 1907, died Jun 23, 2000.1

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedSapienza University of Rome3

Cuccia was born into a Sicilian family in Rome on 24 November 1907. He was of Arbereshe origin. His family was Catholic. His father was a senior civil servant at the finance ministry. In 1930, Enrico Cuccia received a law degree.

From Wikipedia’s article on Enrico Cuccia (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Career

Occupation: economist, politician, banker.5

Cuccia started his career as a journalist, but he left soon. He began to work at the Central Bank of Italy and served in Ethiopia. In 1934, he joined the state-run holding group, Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI). Then he began to serve as a manager at IRI's Banca Commerciale Italiana in 1938.

In 1946, Cuccia was appointed president of Mediobanca when it was founded. Subsequently, he was the first head of the bank, which was initially named as Banca di Credito Finanziaro. In 1982, he retired from the board of Mediobanca and was given the title of honorary president. Antonio Maccanico succeeded him in the post. Cuccia kept an office at the bank until his death in 2000.

Cuccia also served as a personal adviser of the Agnelli family. However, their alliance ended at the end of the 1990s.

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Activities

Cuccia shaped the Italian company patterns until 1992 when a bill became effective in order to encourage the privatization of state-owned companies and banks. He was the major contributor to the merge of Montecatini and Edison into Montedison, which occurred in 1966. The merger was the first reorganisation of the chemical industry. He was also instrumental in Olivetti's takeover of Telecom Italia in 1999. In addition to these much more visible activities, he "was the principal dealmaker (and breaker) in the secretive world of large private Italian capitalism."

From Wikipedia’s article on Enrico Cuccia (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Personal life

  • BornNov 24, 1907, Rome6
  • DiedJun 23, 2000, Milan7
  • CitizenshipKingdom of Italy, Italy8

Cuccia married Idea Nuova Socialista (meaning New Socialist Idea in English) Beneduce and had three children, two daughters and a son. They had known each other since high school and got married in 1939. Cuccia's spouse was the daughter of Alberto Beneduce, the founder and president of the IRI.

From Wikipedia’s article on Enrico Cuccia (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.

Awards

  • Date not recordedGrand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic9
  • Date not recordedKnight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic9

Sources

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