Death of Maria Sole Agnelli, sister of the lawyer who led the Foundation
She was mayor of the Umbrian municipality of Campello sul Clitunno. She bred the stable of horses from which Woodland, silver medallist at the Munich Olympics, was born
One hundred years of elegance, passion and civic commitment: Countess Maria Sole Agnelli, sister of the lawyer Gianni Agnelli, died at her villa on the Torrimpietra estate near Rome, closing an extraordinary chapter in the history of the family that marked the industrial face of 20th century Italy.
Born in Villar Perosa (Turin) on 9 August 1925, the daughter of Edoardo Agnelli (1892-1935) and Virginia Bourbon del Monte (1899-1945), Maria Sole was able to cross a century intertwining politics, sport, culture and family life. Growing up between Turin and the Piedmontese hills, Maria Sole lived alongside her siblings Clara (1920-2016), Gianni (1921-2003), Susanna (1922-2009), Giorgio (1929-1965), Cristiana (born 1927) and Umberto (1934-2004), in what was for a long time the most powerful family in Italy.
Despite her brothers' fame, she always maintained her own discreet but incisive profile, embodying the elegance and concreteness that would become her hallmark. In the 1960s, Maria Sole made her entry into public life in a surprising and original way: she was elected mayor of Campello sul Clitunno (Perugia), with an almost unanimous consensus of 850 votes out of 1,200 eligible voters, without rallies or campaigning.
The decision matured after the death of her husband, Count Ranieri Campello della Spina (1908-1959), who lived in the aristocratic family's Umbrian village. Maria Sole Agnelli was mayor for ten years, from 1960 to 1970, during which time she oversaw the maintenance of the roads, the modernisation of the schools, the enhancement of cultural and natural assets, such as the historic Fonti del Clitunno, and the promotion of cultural and food and wine tourism.
At the same time, she cultivated her passion for horses. Maria Sole's stud farm was one of the most famous post-World War II stables in Italy, and the thoroughbred Woodland brought her name and that of the country to the Olympic podium, winning the silver medal Munich Olympics in 1972. The family always remained at the centre of his affections. Four children were born from her marriage to Count Ranieri Campello della Spina: Virginia (1954), Argenta (1955), Cintia (1956) and Bernardino (1958). A widow, in 1960 she married Count Pio Teodorani-Fabbri (1924-2022), by whom she had a fifth child, Edoardo (1965). For fourteen years, until 2018, Maria Sole was president of the Fondazione Agnelli, supporting education, culture and research projects.
