Gianni Mazzocchi founded more than fifteen national magazines including several, such as Il Mondo, L'Europeo, and Quattroruote, that continued to feature prominently on the nation's news stands long after his death.
26 Facts About Gianni Mazzocchi
1.
2.
Gianni Mazzocchi was born on the same day as Alec Issigonis.
3.
Gianni Mazzocchi was born in Ascoli Piceno, a regional capital across the mountains to the north-east of Rome.
4.
Gianni Mazzocchi's father died in 1933, when he was 27.
5.
Gianni Mazzocchi's father had at one stage been a breeder of silk worms.
6.
Gianni Mazzocchi then broke off his studies and moved to Milan in 1927, partly in response to his family's intensifying financial difficulties and partly in response to a conviction that the job opportunities in Lombardy would be much better than those on offer in Central Italy.
7.
Gianni Mazzocchi managed to get hold of diary pages and letters that the author had sent home to his father and, with virtually no need to adapt the resulting text, published these as a book.
8.
In 1939, with approximately 15 titles published, Gianni Mazzocchi withdrew the business from the book market, deciding it was insufficiently profitable.
9.
Gianni Mazzocchi was forced to sell it to Angelo Rizzoli, a rival.
10.
In 1956 Gianni Mazzocchi surrendered control of Il Mondo to Nicolo Carandini and Adriano Olivetti, followinging disagreements apparently of a political nature with the editor.
11.
In 1954 Gianni Mazzocchi, who had never lost his close interest in industrial and consumer design founded "Stile industria", a magazine which under the direction of Alberto Rosselli endured till 1963.
12.
Gianni Mazzocchi saw them as vital instruments of personal and social emancipation.
13.
Gianni Mazzocchi expressed his enthusiasm as a collector of cars, though sources are vague over how many he had at any one time.
14.
Gianni Mazzocchi was particularly proud of his first Citroen DS.
15.
Gianni Mazzocchi loved his sports cars, especially the Alfa Romeos, and was a Ferrari enthusiast.
16.
Gianni Mazzocchi used Quattroruote to pursue what some saw as very personal campaigns, though for many readers his campaigning was very much in the public interest.
17.
Gianni Mazzocchi argued powerfully and consistently for the construction of the Autostrada del Sole linking Milan to Naples via Bologna and Rome "which others considered impossible or useless".
18.
Gianni Mazzocchi fought for the mandatory fitting of rear fog lights.
19.
Gianni Mazzocchi's campaigning instincts were apparent from the publication's concern with the quality of public water supplies and controls on water pollution.
20.
Gianni Mazzocchi had married one of his senior editor-directors, Emma Robbutti.
21.
Gianni Mazzocchi's husband was away in America, and she had spent the day, as usual, working in her father's editorial office building.
22.
Gianni Mazzocchi was not seen again for nearly two months.
23.
Maria Grazia Gianni Mazzocchi was held for slightly more than two months and released on 28 July 1978 to be greeted by press speculation that her father had been forced to sell Quattroruote in order to raise the funds necessary to purchase his daughter's release.
24.
The transfer of the business and its fourteen titles to his younger daughter, Giovanna Gianni Mazzocchi Bordone, had already taken place.
25.
Gianni Mazzocchi showed every sign of having inherited her father's skills in business administration.
26.
The letters and messages of condolence received by Gianni Mazzocchi's family included a telegramme from President Pertini.