Born within a poor family in Sant'Agnese, near Modena, Orsi lost his father in 1899 - an event that forced him to start working at a very young age. In the late 1920s he started his own business as scrap iron, steel mill and farm equipment manufacturer, eventually employing hundreds of people from Modena and the surrounding area.[1] Orsi soon started pursuing interests outside of the company, including running the trolley company of Modena, and being involved with the local soccer team, Modena F.C. in its successful early years.[2][3] With his brother, Marcello, he was also involved in a Fiat dealership, the Fiat A.M. Orsi (1935).[4]
MaseratiEdit
In 1937 Orsi bought the financially troubled Maserati company, employing his son, Omar Orsi, as managing director; three of the Maserati Brothers were retained on ten-year contracts on the engineering team (1937–47). In 1940 Orsi moved the Maserati headquarters from Bologna to Modena, near the premises of his steel plants and spark plug manufacturing company, Fonderie Riunite. In 1949, with Maserati temporarily closed for restructuring, a steel mill workers' strike action following Orsi's refusal to hire communist workers resulted in a series of hard encounters on 9 June 1950, leaving a few protesters dead.[5] When the foundries were reopened in 1952, Orsi decided to sell the company, splitting it with his siblings. Adolfo kept the Maserati car manufacturing business, his brother Marcello kept the foundries, and their sister Ida Orsi took charge of the motorbike manufacturing (the Società Anonima Fabbrica Candele Accumulatori Maserati, 1953–60).
The 1950s proved to be a successful decade for Maserati. Orsi hired his brother in-law Alceste Giacomazzi as new general director, and succeeded in luring Ferrari employee Alberto Massimino to Maserati (1944–52), as well as hiring the Argentine driver ace Juan Manuel Fangio (1953). Fangio went on to win the Formula One World Championship for Maserati in 1954 and 1957.
In 1954 Orsi made a lucrative deal with Juan Perón when the motor racing enthusiast president of Argentina placed a large order for machine tools to be imported in his country. However, following the Revolución Libertadora and the exile of Perón, receiving payments for the order turned out to be problematic. Orsi encountered similar issues with the Spanish government, and the ensuing financial problems resulted in Maserati entering administration.[6] The remnants of Maserati was handled by the creditor, Credito Italiano.
Orsi remained active within the management of Maserati until 1968, when he decided to sell his remaining shares to Citroën, who at the time was a major stakeholder.[7]
Omar Orsi's son, Adolfo Orsi Jr. (born 1951) is involved as consultant on the history of Maserati.
ReferencesEdit
^Adolfo Orsi and Ferrucio Lamborghini from howstuffworks.com
adolfo, orsi, march, 1888, december, 1972, italian, industrialist, known, owning, maserati, automobile, maker, maserati, 1950born, 1888, march, 1888modena, kingdom, italydied20, december, 1972, 1972, aged, modena, italynationalityitalianoccupationindustrialist. Adolfo Orsi 23 March 1888 20 December 1972 was an Italian industrialist known for owning the Maserati automobile maker Adolfo OrsiAdolfo Orsi at Maserati c 1950BornAdolfo Orsi 1888 03 23 23 March 1888Modena Kingdom of ItalyDied20 December 1972 1972 12 20 aged 84 Modena ItalyNationalityItalianOccupationIndustrialistYears active1937 1978ChildrenOmar OrsiBorn within a poor family in Sant Agnese near Modena Orsi lost his father in 1899 an event that forced him to start working at a very young age In the late 1920s he started his own business as scrap iron steel mill and farm equipment manufacturer eventually employing hundreds of people from Modena and the surrounding area 1 Orsi soon started pursuing interests outside of the company including running the trolley company of Modena and being involved with the local soccer team Modena F C in its successful early years 2 3 With his brother Marcello he was also involved in a Fiat dealership the Fiat A M Orsi 1935 4 Maserati EditIn 1937 Orsi bought the financially troubled Maserati company employing his son Omar Orsi as managing director three of the Maserati Brothers were retained on ten year contracts on the engineering team 1937 47 In 1940 Orsi moved the Maserati headquarters from Bologna to Modena near the premises of his steel plants and spark plug manufacturing company Fonderie Riunite In 1949 with Maserati temporarily closed for restructuring a steel mill workers strike action following Orsi s refusal to hire communist workers resulted in a series of hard encounters on 9 June 1950 leaving a few protesters dead 5 When the foundries were reopened in 1952 Orsi decided to sell the company splitting it with his siblings Adolfo kept the Maserati car manufacturing business his brother Marcello kept the foundries and their sister Ida Orsi took charge of the motorbike manufacturing the Societa Anonima Fabbrica Candele Accumulatori Maserati 1953 60 The 1950s proved to be a successful decade for Maserati Orsi hired his brother in law Alceste Giacomazzi as new general director and succeeded in luring Ferrari employee Alberto Massimino to Maserati 1944 52 as well as hiring the Argentine driver ace Juan Manuel Fangio 1953 Fangio went on to win the Formula One World Championship for Maserati in 1954 and 1957 In 1954 Orsi made a lucrative deal with Juan Peron when the motor racing enthusiast president of Argentina placed a large order for machine tools to be imported in his country However following the Revolucion Libertadora and the exile of Peron receiving payments for the order turned out to be problematic Orsi encountered similar issues with the Spanish government and the ensuing financial problems resulted in Maserati entering administration 6 The remnants of Maserati was handled by the creditor Credito Italiano Orsi remained active within the management of Maserati until 1968 when he decided to sell his remaining shares to Citroen who at the time was a major stakeholder 7 Omar Orsi s son Adolfo Orsi Jr born 1951 is involved as consultant on the history of Maserati References Edit Adolfo Orsi and Ferrucio Lamborghini from howstuffworks com Where are they now from oldracingcars com Officine Alfieri Maserati Spa history from fundinguniverse com La Maserati prima durante e dopo Adolfo Orsi Archived September 30 2007 at the Wayback Machine from motorvalley it Red fog from Time January 23 1950 Maserati off the track from Time April 14 1958 cartype com Archived September 27 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Adolfo Orsi amp oldid 1130003489, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
