Susanna Agnelli, Contessa Rattazzi, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI

Italian orders of merit

There are five orders of knighthood awarded in recognition of service to the Italian Republic. Below these sit a number of other decorations, associated and otherwise, that do not confer knighthoods...

 (April 24, 1922 - May 15, 2009) was an Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

, businesswoman and writer. She was the only woman to have been Minister of Foreign Affairs

Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs

As in most countries, in Italy the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which is the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is one of the most important ministerial positions...

 in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

.

Biography

Born in Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, she was the daughter of Edoardo Agnelli and Donna Virginia Bourbon del Monte, a daughter of the Prince di San Faustino and his Kentucky-born wife Jane Campbell. Her brother, Gianni Agnelli

Gianni Agnelli

Giovanni Agnelli , better known as Gianni Agnelli , was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce, and 16.5% of its industrial investment in research...

, was the head of Fiat

Fiat

FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...

 until 1996; the Agnelli family is still the controlling shareholders of the company as of 2009. The family also held investments which represented the largest percentage of the Italian stock market.

Political offices

She was elected to the Italian Parliament in 1976 for the Italian Republican Party

Italian Republican Party

The Italian Republican Party is a liberal political party in Italy.The PRI is party with old roots that originally took a left-wing position, claiming descent from the political position of Giuseppe Mazzini...

 (PRI), becoming a senator

Italian Senate

The Senate of the Republic is the upper house of the Italian Parliament. It was established in its current form on 8 May 1948, but previously existed during the Kingdom of Italy as Senato del Regno , itself a continuation of the Senato Subalpino of Sardinia-Piedmont established on 8 May 1848...

 in 1983. Also for PRI, she was a member of the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

 in 1979-1981. She also served as mayor of Porto Santo Stefano

Porto Santo Stefano

Porto Santo Stefano is located in the municipality of Monte Argentario, in the Province of Grosseto, in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is one of the 2 major towns that form the townships along with Porto Ercole.-Position:...

.

Personal life

In 1945 she married Count Urbano Rattazzi (born 1918) with whom she had six children, the youngest of whom is photographer Priscilla Rattazzi

Priscilla Rattazzi

Priscilla Rattazzi is an Italian-born photographer based in New York City who has worked primarily as a magazine photographer and has authored several photography books.-Life and career:...

. The marriage was dissolved in 1975. She divided her time between New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and Italy and she was long a loyal fan of Robert Denning

Robert Denning

Robert Denning was an American interior designer whose lush interpretations of French Victorian decor became an emblem of corporate raider tastes in the 1980s.-Early life:...

, of Denning & Fourcade

Denning & Fourcade, Inc.

Robert Denning & Vincent Fourcade, Inc. was an interior design firm which for over forty years was a leader in opulent interiors with offices in New York City and Paris...

, who designed over 15 homes for her in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, South America

South America

South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

and Italy.

Autobiography

Her autobiography Vestivamo alla marinara ("We always wore sailor suits", 1983) was a bestseller in Italy.

Works

• Vestivamo alla marinara (1975)
• Gente alla deriva (1980)
• Ricordati Gualeguaychu (1982)
• Addio, addio mio ultimo amore (1985)