Guido Venosta – His father and Pirelli

Giuseppe Venosta (1880 – 1939) graduated with full honors in Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano. In March 1906, he was hired at Pirelli in the tires and rubber department; it can truly be said that he contributed to the “great adventure of the tire in Italy,” and not only that. Sharing a passion for football with Piero Pirelli, he even developed one of the first balls featuring a rubber bladder instead of being made entirely of leather—the “Corazza Pirelli” (circa 1925). The rubber division was his professional home, and from there he climbed the corporate ladder. When the Central Management Divisions were established in 1919, Giuseppe Venosta was appointed Rubber Central Director; in 1920, he joined the board of directors, and, being proficient in English, he was sent on a mission to the United States in 1928. In 1933, he became president of “Pirelli-Revere,” the Italo-American Elastic Wire Society founded by Pirelli and US Rubber. In November 1938, he was named General Director, but by then he was already suffering from liver cancer—a disease that claimed his life on April 14, 1939, before he even reached sixty. On that very day, a company service order signed by Piero and Alberto Pirelli announced his passing “after long months of suffering, recalling with grateful affection the strong and ingenious work of Engineer Venosta over more than 33 years of tireless efforts to elevate our Company’s rubber division to its current importance and efficiency (…)”.

During the “tire adventure,” Giuseppe Venosta also managed the Pirelli Supply Team during the early, adventurous Grand Prix races of the 1920s. Young Guido followed him closely—he was photographed with his father at Monza in 1924 and carefully preserved photographs of Giuseppe conversing with Piero Pirelli during the Grand Prix, or with the famous drivers of the era in front of racing cars.

This esteemed father was not only a man of broad vision but also a deeply affectionate parent; Guido’s unpublished memoirs convey a touching remembrance, culminating in his poignant conclusion: “I thought that everything was over, but the years that followed taught me that one can continue to love a departed soul with the same passion as when they were alive. And so I did, and everything seemed to go on as before.”

Sources:
Albiate, Villa San Valerio, Archives of Giuseppe Caprotti: Guido Venosta Archive, Various Documents, G. VENOSTA, Unpublished Memoirs (1996-97) (pp. 2, 39-40).
Ibid., Archives of Giuseppe Caprotti: Guido Venosta Archive, Photographic Album 1920 – 1930.

Pirelli Foundation, Pirelli Historical Archive, “Personnel” Collection, file “Giuseppe Venosta,” “Service Order of November 12, 1938, No. 793”;
Ibid., “Service Order of April 14, 1939, No. 819.”