Edoardo Agnelli

Edoardo Agnelli (9 June 1954 – 15 November 2000) was the eldest child and only son of Gianni Agnelli,[1] the industrialist patriarch of Fiat S.p.A., and of Marella Agnelli, who was born Donna Marella Caracciolo di Castagneto.[2] He converted to Shia Islam when he was living in New York City,[3] and changed his name to Mahdi.[4] In mid-November 2000, he was found dead under a bridge on the outskirts of Turin.[2]

For his great-great grandfather, see Edoardo Agnelli (entrepreneur, born 1831). For his grandfather, see Edoardo Agnelli (entrepreneur, born 1892).

Edoardo Agnelli
Born(1954-06-09)9 June 1954
New York City, New York, United States
Died15 November 2000(2000-11-15) (aged 46)
Turin, Italy
NationalityItalian
Alma materAtlantic College, Princeton University
OccupationBusinessman
Parents

Biography

Agnelli was born in New York City to Italian parents; his maternal grandmother was American. His mother, Marella Agnelli, and his father, Gianni Agnelli, married in 1953.[5] He had one sister, Margherita Agnelli de Pahlen.[2] He had studied at the Liceo Classico Massimo d'Azeglio in Turin, at Atlantic College in the Vale of Glamorgan in south Wales, and he read modern literature in Latin and Eastern philosophy at Princeton University.[6] At the age of twenty-two, he argued in the press with Margherita Hack, defending the values of astrology.[7]

After leaving Princeton, Agnelli traveled to Kenya, Iran, and India, where he met Sathya Sai Baba and pursued his interest in Eastern religions and mysticism.[6] He was known by his friends in New York as "Crazy Eddy" due to his restless adolescence and wild behavior.[8][9] For his anti-capitalist and religious views, including criticism of capitalism in an interview following the Peace March of Assisi,[10] he was seen as a rebel and an heretic.[11] According to La Repubblica, Agnelli's preoccupations became increasingly erratic, lecturing about mysticism, Franciscanism, and Buddhism, praising of the poor, and criticism of the behavior of Fiat.[12] According to The Guardian, his views opposed to economic materialism made him move in a different direction than his parents.[13]

As an adult, Agnelli was being groomed to be the heir apparent to the Fiat empire. In the night of 27 October 1986, he made public his disagreement with his father and proclaimed himself ready to take "all the responsibilities that belong to the ownership of a large group like ours";[9] his father, who had already been unhappy with his conversion to Islam, ensured that he would not inherit it. The only official position that the younger Agnelli held in the family businesses was as a director of Juventus F.C.[14] In doing so, he continued the tradition of the Fiat-owner family dating back to the 1920s. In this capacity, he was present at the Heysel disaster.[15] In 1990, he was accused for heroin possession in Malindi;[16][17] the charges were later dropped.[18][nb 1]

Conversion to Islam
Agnelli, pictured on the bottom far right, participates in a Jumu'ah of Ayatollah Khamenei on 3 April 1981.

Agnelli converted to Sunni Islam in an Islamic centre in New York where he was named Hisham Aziz.[3] He then met Ali Khamenei in Teheran and was reported to have converted to Shia Islam.[4] According to Mohammad Hassan Ghadiri Abyaneh, Agnelli recited his shahada in front of Fakhreddin Hejazi, became a Shia Muslim, and changed his name to Mahdi.[3] He said: "One day while I was in New York, I was walking in a library and Quran caught my glimpse. I was curious about what was in it. I started reading it in English and I felt that those words were holy words and cannot be the words of men. I was really touched and borrowed the book and studied it further and I felt like I was understanding it and I believed it."[20]

Death

On 15 November 2000, 46-year-old Agnelli's body was found near Turin, on a river bed beneath a motorway viaduct on which his car was found.[6] The viaduct is known as the bridge of suicides.[21] According to a report by Marco Ellena, the doctor from the public health office of nearby city Cuneo, who examined Agnelli's body, said: "He died because of deadly wounds after having fallen 80 meters."[22] The report also stated that he was alive when his body impacted with the ground.[22] His head, face, and chest were damaged due to the fall and an autopsy detected some internal injuries, which seemed to prove the suicide theory.[22] Nothing was unusual in his death scene and police did not find anything in his car apart from phones, cigarettes, a walking stick, an address book, and a bottle of water.[22] His conversion to Islam and the fast process of his funeral thereafter started some rumors about his suicide.[22] Riccardo Bausone, the public prosecutor who was working on the case, closed the investigation and concluded that Agnelli's death was a suicide.[23] His father joined police at the scene;[24] he was reported to not have cried once he learned about Agnelli's death but was devastated.[25]

Giuseppe Puppo, an Italian journalist and writer, published a book about Agnelli's death in 2009, using interviews and unpublished testimonies. Puppo regards some of the points as inconsistencies and oddities: the absence of the bodyguards of Edoardo Agnelli; the interval of two hours between leaving home and arriving on the Fossano viaduct; the cameras of Agnelli, whose images have never been released; the telephone traffic on the two phones; the total absence of witnesses along a road section that recorded at least eight cars per minute at that time; the lack of fingerprints on the car; and the hurried burial without a proper autopsy.[26] He was buried next to his cousin, Giovanni Alberto Agnelli, in his family vault in the cemetery perched above the grounds of the Agnelli family villa at Villar Perosa.[22] Giorgio Agnelli, the second son of Virginia Agnelli (born Donna Virginia Bourbon del Monte) and the elder Edoardo Agnelli, did not participate in the family business due to a serious illness and died by suicide at the age of 36 in 1965. Both Edoardo and Giorgio Agnelli were described as caring about their family and suffered from being marginalized.[27]

Notes
  1. Agnelli was charged based on the law n. 685 of 1975 concerning the "modest quantity for personal use". His position as a suspect arose from an investigation into the Roma Bene drug ring following a death by heroin overdose, which took place on 6 June 1988, of Ranieri Ferrara Santamaria, son of a well-known lawyer and a friend of Agnelli. Following the testimony provided by these who admitted their drug addiction, the investigating judge Stefano Meschini, and the findings of the telephone interceptions of some conversations between the defendant and the victim, thirty people were sent to trial; among the latter were the names of some drug dealers, as well as various members of the entertainment world and Roman high society. Agnelli was acquitted.[19]

References
  1. "Morto Edoardo Agnelli il figlio dell'Avvocato" [Dead Edoardo Agnelli the son of the Lawyer]. La Repubblica (in Italian). Turin. 15 November 2000. ISSN 0390-1076. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  2. Whittaker, Malcolm (16 November 2000). "Fiat magnate Agnelli's only son found dead at Bridge of Suicides". The Independent. London. ISSN 1741-9743. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  3. "Guzarsh wajeh/Adwardw anala keh bwd w cheguwnh aslam awrd? + 'ekes w falm" گزارش ویژه/ادواردو آنیلی که بود و چگونه اسلام آورد؟ + عکس و فیلم [Special report/Who was Edoardo Agnelli and how did he convert to Islam? + Photos and videos] (in Persian). Teheran: Mashreg News. 28 July 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  4. "The curse of inheritance: Do wealthy dynasties always make for happy heirs". Belfast Telegraph. Belfast. 19 July 2007. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  5. "Marella Agnelli, Italian symbol of elegance and beauty, dies at 91". The Washington Post. Washington. 24 February 2019. ISSN 2641-9599. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  6. Johnston, Bruce (16 November 2000). "Fiat chief's son dies in viaduct plunge". The Telegraph. London. ISSN 2059-7487. Archived from the original on 3 September 2003. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  7. Philip, Willan (15 November 2000). "Suicide suspected after Fiat heir found dead". The Guardian. Manchester. ISSN 1756-3224. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  8. Berlin, Rosalind Klein; Farnham, Alan (10 September 1990). "The Children of the Rich & Famous Not spendthrifts, sots, nor simps, these billionheirs and billionheiresses are working hard -- even though they don't have to". Fortune. New York. Retrieved 19 February 2023 – via CNN Money.
  9. "Edoardo Agnelli – L'ultimo volo" [Edoardo Agnelli – The Last Flight]. Naples: RAI. 15 November 2012. Archived from the original on 28 October 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  10. "Edoardo Agnelli controcorrente 'Il capitalismo non e' eterno'" [Edoardo Agnelli nonconformist 'Capitalism is not eternal']. La Repubblica (in Italian). Rome. ISSN 0390-1076. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  11. Zega, Matteo (15 November 2022). "Edoardo, l'Agnelli sacrificale" [Edoardo, the sacrifical Agnelli]. Rivista Contrasti (in Italian). Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  12. Aspesi, Natalia (16 November 2000). "Edoardo Agnelli, una vita fragile" [Edoardo Agnelli, a fragile life]. La Repubblica (in Italian). Rome. ISSN 0390-1076. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  13. Philip, Willan (15 November 2000). "Suicide suspected after Fiat heir found dead". The Guardian. Manchester. ISSN 1756-3224. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  14. "Fiat family's search for an heir". Sunday Business. London. 26 November 2000 – via ).
  15. Darby, Paul; Johnes, Martin; Mello, Gavin, eds. (2005). Soccer and Disaster. London: Routledge. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-7146-5352-5.
  16. "Tycoon's Son Pleads". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh. 23 September 1990. ISSN 1068-624X. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2023 – via NewsBanks.
  17. Longo, Alessandra (25 September 1990). "A Malindi va a processo Edoardo Agnelli" [The public trial of Edoardo Agnelli takes place in Malindi]. La Repubblica (in Italian). Milan. ISSN 0390-1076. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  18. "Death of a family firm?". The Sunday Business Post. Dublin. 3 December 2000. ISSN 0791-2617. Archived from the original on 26 April 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  19. Scottoni, Franco (7 October 1990). "I droga-party della Roma Bene processo a 30 vip, Agnelli Jr prosciolto" [Roma Bene's drug-party trial of 30 VIPs, Agnelli Jr. acquitted]. La Repubblica (in Italian). Rome. ISSN 0390-1076. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  20. "Hdah msah؛ sara dr zndgua Adwardw Anala" هدیه مسیح؛ سیری در زندگی ادواردو آنیلی [The gift of Christ; satiety in the life of Edoardo Agnelli]. Rasa News (in Persian). Teheran. November 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  21. August, Mellissa; et al. (27 November 2000). "Milestones". Time. New York. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on 22 November 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  22. Clark, Jennifer (21 November 2011). Mondo Agnelli: Fiat, Chrysler, and the Power of a Dynasty. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons. p. 384. ISBN 978-1-1182-3611-6. Retrieved 18 February 2023 – via Google Books.
  23. Simpson, Victor L. (15 November 2000). "Fiat Magnate's Son Found Dead". AP News. New York: The Associated Press. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  24. Merola, Marianna (15 November 2022). "Una data, una storia. Il vuoto di 80 metri lasciato da Edoardo Agnelli". Leccenews24.it (in Italian). Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  25. Canino, Francesco (22 January 2023). "'Una sola donna ha davvero coinvolto Gianni Agnelli. Quando gli dissero della morte di suo figlio Edoardo non pianse, ma era distrutto': il racconto di Jas Gawronski". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 7 February 2023.
  26. "Interview with Dr. Marco Bava, a friend of Edoardo Agnelli". Cogito Ergo Sum (in Italian). 17 April 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  27. Stefanutto Rosa, Stefano (27 November 2010). "Giovanni Piperno: i ribelli della famiglia Agnelli" [Giovanni Piperno: the rebels of the Agnelli family]. Cinecittà News (in Italian). Rome. Retrieved 18 February 2023.

Bibliography
  • Bernardini, Marco (1 January 2004). Edoardo. Senza corona... senza scorta [Edoardo: Without crown... Without escort] (in Italian) (paperback ed.). Turin: Edizioni Spoon River. ISBN 978-8-8869-0679-1.
  • Parisi, Antonio (3 November 2011). I misteri di casa Agnelli [The Mysteries of the Agnelli House] (in Italian) (paperback ed.). Rome: Aliberti Editore. ISBN 978-8-8742-4697-7.
  • Puppo, Giuseppe (January 2009). Ottanta metri di mistero. La tragica morte di Edoardo Agnelli [Eighty Meters of Mystery: The Tragic Death of Edoardo Agnelli] (in Italian) (paperback ed.). Rome: Koinè Edizioni. ISBN 978-88-87509-93-9.
  • Puppo, Giuseppe (1 January 2015). Un giallo troppo complicato. Gli sviluppi del caso e nuove rivelazioni sulla tragica morte di Edoardo Agnelli [A Too Complicated Yellow: The Developments of the Case and New Revelations on the Tragic Death of Edoardo Agnelli] (in Italian) (paperback ed.). Chieti: Edizioni Tabula Fati. ISBN 978-8-8747-5422-9.
  • Scherman, Magnus E. (April 2011). L'agnello nero [The Black Lamb] (in Italian) (paperback ed.). London: Edizioni Forlag1.dk. ISBN 978-8-8938-8406-8.

Further reading
  • Friedman, Alan (6 October 1988). Agnelli and the Network of Italian Power (paperback ed.). London: Mandarin Paperback (Octopus Publishing Group). ISBN 0-7493-0093-0.
  • Galli, Giancarlo (14 February 2003). Gli Agnelli. Il tramonto di una dinastia [The Agnellis: The Decline of a Dynasty] (in Italian) (paperback ed.). Milan: Mondadori. ISBN 88-04-51768-9.
  • Mola di Nomaglio, Gustavo (1 December 1998). Gli Agnelli. Storia e genealogia di una grande famiglia piemontese dal XVI secolo al 1866 [The Agnellis: History and Genealogy of a Large Piedmontese Family from the 16th Century to 1866] (in Italian). Turin: Centro Studi Piemontesi. ISBN 88-8262-099-9.
  • Moncalvo, Gigi (17 October 2012). Agnelli segreti: peccati, passioni e verità nascoste dell'ultima "famiglia reale" italiana [Secret Agnellis: Sins, Passions and Hidden Truths of the Last Italian "Royal Family"] (in Italian) (paperback ed.). Florence: Vallecchi. ISBN 978-88-8427-236-2.
  • Ori, Angiolo Silvio (1 June 1996). Storia di una dinastia. Gli Agnelli e la Fiat. Cronache "Non autorizzate" dei cento anni della più grande industria italiana [History of a Dynasty: The Agnellis and Fiat. "Unauthorized" Chronicles of the Hundred Years of the Largest Italian Industry] (in Italian). Rome: Editori Riuniti. ISBN 88-35-94059-1.
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