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Enrico Mattei
Photo: Unknown author Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons17

Enrico Mattei

20th-century Italian politician and businessman

Enrico Mattei (Italian pronunciation: [enˈriːko matˈtɛi]; 29 April 1906 – 27 October 1962) was an Italian public administrator. After World War II, he was given the task of dismantling the Italian petroleum agency Agip, a state enterprise established by Fascist Italy.2

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

Born Apr 29, 1906, died Oct 27, 1962.1

About

Instead, Mattei enlarged and reorganized it into the National Fuel Trust (Italian: Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi, ENI). Under his direction, ENI negotiated important oil concessions in the Middle East as well as a significant trade agreement with the Soviet Union, which helped break the oligopoly of the "Seven Sisters" that dominated the mid-20th-century oil industry. He also introduced the principle whereby the country that owned exploited oil reserves received 75% of the profits.

Mattei, who became a powerful figure in Italy, was a member of Christian Democracy and of the Italian Parliament from 1948 to 1953. Mattei made ENI a powerful company, so much so that Italians called it "the state within the state". He died in a plane crash in 1962, likely caused by a bomb in the plane, although it has never been established which group might have been responsible for his death. The unsolved death of Mattei was the subject of an award-winning film The Mattei Affair by Francesco Rosi in 1972, with Mattei portrayed by Gian Maria Volonté. Along with Vittorio Valletta of Fiat S.p.A., he is regarded among the best Italian managers of the 20th century.

From Wikipedia’s article on Enrico Mattei, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Companies

Early life and education

  • Date not recordedCatholic University of the Sacred Heart3

Enrico Mattei was born in Acqualagna, in the province of Pesaro and Urbino, Marche, as the second of five children of Antonio Mattei (a carabiniere – a member of the Italian national gendarmerie) and Angela Galvani. In 1923, he became an apprentice in the tannery industry in Matelica. His career was rapid; from factory hand, he quickly moved on to become a chemical assistant and then to laboratory chief at the age of 21. After his military service, he became the tannery owner's chief assistant. However, the economic crisis at the end of the 1920s made business go from bad to worse until the tannery closed.

Mattei moved to Milan where he worked as a sales representative for foreign companies in tanning dyes and solvents. In 1931, he became a member of the National Fascist Party (Italian: Partito Nazionale Fascista) created by Benito Mussolini but was not active in politics. Subsequently, he set up a factory producing oil-based emulsifiers for the tanning and textile industries with his brother and sister. In 1934, he founded Industria Chimica Lombarda and two years later, in 1936, he married Greta Paulas, in Vienna. After acquiring an accountancy qualification, he enrolled at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.

In May 1943, he met the Christian Democracy leader Giuseppe Spataro, who introduced him into anti-Fascist circles in Milan against the Italian fascist regime of Mussolini. After 25 July 1943, when Mussolini was forced to resign, Mattei joined a partisan group of the Italian resistance movement in the mountains around Matelica, supplying them with weapons. He was able to join the resistance, despite suspicion over his former membership of the Fascist party. His role was rather marginal, concentrating mainly on administering and organising activities. After a number of roundups, he escaped to Milan.

Impressed by his organisational and military skills, Christian Democrats put him in command of their partisan forces. On 26 October 1944, he was captured in Milan, along with others, at the Christian Democrats' secret headquarters in Milan. Detained at the military barracks in Como, he was able to escape on 3 December 1944, taking advantage of a confusion caused by a short circuit which he himself may have engineered. Mattei participated in the North Italian military command of the National Liberation Committee (Italian: Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale – CLN) on behalf of the Christian Democrats. He was decorated by the United States with the Silver Star.

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

Career

Occupation: politician, engineer, partisan, businessperson, entrepreneur.8

  • 1948 to 1953Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic7
  • Date not recordedFounded Saipem4
  • Date not recordedFounded AgipGas5
  • Date not recordedFounded Eni6
  • Date not recordedMember of the National Council of the Kingdom of Italy7

Personal life

  • BornApr 29, 1906, Acqualagna9
  • DiedOct 27, 1962, Bascapè10
  • CitizenshipKingdom of Italy, Italy11

Awards

  • Date not recordedBronze Star Medal12
  • Date not recordedGrand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic12
  • Date not recordedMedal of Friends of the Algerian Revolution12 13

Sources

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    WikidataEni, Founder
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