28 Facts About Enrico Mattei

Enrico Mattei, who became a powerful figure in Italy, was a member of Christian Democracy and of the Italian Parliament from 1948 to 1953.

Enrico Mattei made ENI a powerful company, so much so that Italians called it "the state within the state".

Enrico Mattei 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.

Enrico Mattei's 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.

Enrico Mattei moved to Milan where he worked as a sales representative for foreign companies in tanning dyes and solvents.

Enrico Mattei was able to join the resistance, despite suspicion over his former membership of the Fascist party.

Enrico Mattei's role was rather marginal, concentrating mainly on administering and organising activities.

Enrico Mattei participated in the North Italian military command of the National Liberation Committee on behalf of the Christian Democrats.

Enrico Mattei was decorated by the United States with the Silver Star.

Enrico Mattei instead worked hard to restructure the company and transform it into one of the nation's most important economic assets.

In 1949 Enrico Mattei made an astonishing public announcement: the soil of the Po Valley in Northern Italy was rich in oil and methane, and Italy would solve all its energy needs using its own resources.

Enrico Mattei's strategy was to use natural gas to support the development of a national industry in Northern Italy, sustaining the postwar boom known as the Italian economic miracle.

Enrico Mattei paid great attention to the press, and Agip soon took possession of several newspapers and two agencies.

Enrico Mattei was initially its president, then the administrator and the general director.

When it became apparent that the domestic resource base would not be sufficient to meet Italy's growing energy demand, Enrico Mattei recognized the need to secure foreign supplies.

Enrico Mattei visited Moscow in 1959, where he brokered an oil import deal with the Soviet Union in the middle of the Cold War over intense protests from NATO and the United States.

Enrico Mattei publicly supported independence movements against colonial powers, which allowed ENI to take advantage of postcolonial bitterness in places like Algeria.

In 1957, with ENI already competing with giants like Esso or Shell, rumour has it that Enrico Mattei was secretly financing the independence movement against colonialist France in the Algerian War.

In 1960, after concluding the agreement with the Soviet Union and while negotiating with China, Enrico Mattei publicly declared that the American monopoly was over.

Enrico Mattei made the independence of Algeria a condition of his acceptance, and no agreement would be subscribed until that event.

Not trusting the Armed Forces Information Service, Italy's secret service, even though it was full of his loyal supporters, Enrico Mattei constituted a sort of personal security guard made of former partisans, ENI staff by whom he felt protected.

Enrico Mattei was on the verge of engineering an Italian takeover of French oil interests in Algeria.

Journalist De Mauro was killed in 1970 because his investigation of Enrico Mattei's death was getting close to the truth.

Gaetano Ianni, another pentito, declared that a special agreement had been achieved between the Sicilian Mafia and some foreigners for the elimination of Enrico Mattei, which was organized by Giuseppe Di Cristina.

Admiral Fulvio Martini, later chief of SISMI, declared that Enrico Mattei's plane had been shot down.

Enrico Mattei made ENI a powerful company, so much so that Italians dub it "the state within the state".

Enrico Mattei coined the term "Seven Sisters" to refer to the dominant oil companies of the mid-20th century.

The Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institution devoted to the study of sustainable development and global governance.