Santo Versace

Santo Domenico Versace (Italian: [ˈsanto doˈmeːniko verˈsaːtʃe];[lower-alpha 1] born 16 December 1944) is an Italian businessman and politician who is the president and co-chief executive officer of Gianni Versace SpA, based in Milan, Italy. Since 2008 he has been elected as Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Republic in the constituency of Calabria. He is a member of the Alliance for Italy political party,[4] and a former member of The People of Freedom.[5]

Santo Versace
BEconSc
President of Gianni Versace S.p.A.
Assumed office
1978
Preceded byOffice established
chief executive officer of
Gianni Versace S.p.A.
In office
1997–2004
Serving with Donatella Versace and Jorge Saud
Preceded byGianni Versace
Succeeded byAllegra Beck
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
for Calabria
In office
14 April 2008 – 25 February 2013
Preceded byFerdinando Adornato
Succeeded byFerdinando Adornato
President of the National Assembly for the Act to Stop the Decline
In office
25 May 2014 – 25 May 2015
Preceded byNo immediate predecessor
Succeeded byMichele Boldrin
Member of the Parliamentary Commission for Finance
In office
7 October 2011 – 14 March 2013
Member of the Parliamentary Commission for Trade, Tourism and
Productive Activities
In office
21 May 2008 – 7 October 2011
Personal details
Born
Santo Domenico Versace

(1944-12-16) 16 December 1944
Reggio Calabria, Italy
Political partyAct to Stop the Decline (2014–2015)
Previous affiliations;
Alliance for Italy (2009–2014)
People of Freedom (until 2009)
RelativesGianni Versace (brother)
Donatella Versace (sister)
Allegra Versace (niece)
Residence(s)Milan, Italy
Alma materUniversity of Messina (BEconSc; 1968)
ProfessionBusinessman, politician

Biography

Early life

He was born on 16 December 1944 in Reggio Calabria, where he grew up with his younger siblings Gianni and Donatella, along with their father, Antonio, and dressmaker mother, Francesca. An older sister, Tina, died at the age of twelve from an improperly treated tetanus infection.[6] By age six, Versace joined his father as he continued to work after school and during summer until he attended university. When he is not in school, he helped take care of his younger sister, Donatella. Like his brother Gianni, he attended Reggio Calabria's Liceo Classico Tommaso Campanella, where he studied Latin and Ancient Greek.

Personal life

In 1981, Versace married Christiana Ragazzi. The couple had two children, Francesca Christiana and Antonio Tina Santo. The marriage ended in divorce in 2004. Versace remarried in 2014 to lawyer Francesca de Stefano.

Career and professional life

In 1968, Santo graduated from the University of Messina with a degree in economics.[7] He began working first as a banker in Reggio Calabria for Credito Italiano and later as a high school teacher of economics and geography. In 1972, he completed his military service as an officer in the "Genova Cavalleria." Upon completion of his service, Santo opened his own accounting office in both Reggio Calabria and Milan.

In 1976, he moved permanently to Milan where he began working full-time with his brother. Gianni Versace SpA was founded in 1977, with Santo Versace[8] as CEO until 2004. Santo played a leading role in the success of the Versace brand by focusing on communication, organization, productivity, and quality. He oversaw all areas of the business—including sales, distribution, production and finance—and quickly became one of the industry's leading and most well-respected businesspeople.

In 1998, Santo was appointed president of the Italian Fashion Chamber where he served from 1998 to 1999.

Since 1998 he is a shareholder of Viola Reggio Calabria Basketball. From June 1998 to October 1999 was "President of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion." He is Chairman of Operation Smile Italy Onlus, an association of doctors and volunteers which deals with children with facial deformities in 70 countries around the world.

In 2019 he set up the Fondazione Santo Versace, a charity that supports humanitarian work both in Italy and abroad.[9]

Versace is portrayed by Italian actor Giovanni Cirfiera in the second season of the anthology series American Crime Story, which premiered on 17 January 2018.

Notes and references

Notes
  1. According to a January 2018 Vogue interview with Donatella Versace, Versace is correctly pronounced /vərˈsɑːtʃeɪ/ vər-SAH-chay in English as opposed to the popular pronunciation of /vərˈsɑːtʃi/ vər-SAH-chee.[1][2][3]

Citations
  1. Vogue (31 January 2018), 73 Questions With Donatella Versace | Vogue, retrieved 2 March 2018
  2. "You've probably been pronouncing 'Versace' wrong, according to Donatella". Harper's BAZAAR. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  3. Bruno Mars (13 August 2017), Bruno Mars – Versace on the Floor [Official Video], archived from the original on 19 December 2021, retrieved 2 March 2018
  4. "Archivio Corriere della Sera". Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  5. Foti, Anna (10 November 2010). "Centrale a carbone di Saline Joniche, ancora iniziative istituzionali e non" (in Italian). Reggio TV. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  6. Collins, Lauren (24 September 2007). "Mondo Donatella". The New Yorker. p. 158. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  7. "Santo Versace: Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  8. "Santo Versace". Archived from the original on 7 November 2013. Retrieved 7 October 2013.
  9. "Fondazione Santo Versace – Accanto ai più fragili" (in Italian).
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