Riccardo Illy
Encyclopedia
Biography
Riccardo Illy was born in TriesteTrieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
. His name shows Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
origins.
As a young man he worked as a skiing instructor at Piancavallo
Piancavallo
Piancavallo is a ski resort in the Dolomites of northeast Italy. It is a frazione of the comune of Aviano, in the province of Pordenone in Friuli-Venezia Giulia.- Geography:...
and a sailing instructor at Monfalcone
Monfalcone
Monfalcone is a town and comune of the province of Gorizia , located on the coast of the Gulf of Trieste. Monfalcone means "Mount of Falcon" in Italian....
. He married Rossana Bettini, food and wine journalist, when he was very young. They have a daughter Daria who is now a Physical Education teacher and personal trainer.
He started work in the family’s coffee making firm
Illy
illycaffè is a brand of coffee produced in Trieste, Italy.illy produces only one blend in three roast variations: normal, dark roast, and decaffeinated. The blend is packaged as whole beans, pre-ground coffee, E.S.E. pods, or iperEspresso Capsules....
in 1977. He reorganised the internal business structure as well as the structures of the controlled firms. He created a marketing department for “Illycaffè” which until then had never existed. He wrote a book Dal Caffe all'Espresso (From Coffeebeans to Espresso) published by Mondadori and translated into English, French and German. He has been Business Director and then CEO and at present he is the Vice President of “Illycaffe SpA” - a company founded in 1933 by his paternal grandfather, who was of Hungarian origin — which today is present in over 140 countries.
He has held positions of Vice President of the Association of Industrialists in Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
and President of the Seminario Permanente Veronelli.
Independent and supported by a coalition which preceded the Ulivo Party (Olive Branch Party) and also by a civic list bearing his name, Illy has been elected twice — in 1993 and again in 1997 - as Mayor of Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
as allowed by law. As First Citizen and a sincere music lover, he has taken up the position of President of Trieste’s Theatre Giuseppe Verdi.
Until 2002 he was Chairman of the Organizing Committee for the Transpadane European Railway Line.
He was honoured with the title of commendatore
Commendatore
Literally Commander, the official title of Commendatore is awarded by decree of the President of Italy to individuals who are given this honour in the Italian Order of Merit known as the Ordine al Merito della Repubblica and other orders of knighthood...
by the President of the Italian Republic and the “Golden Honorary” title by the President of the Austrian Republic.
He was awarded an honoris causa degree in Political Sciences at the University of Trieste
University of Trieste
The University of Trieste is a medium-sized university in Trieste in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy. The university consists of 12 faculties, boasts a wide and almost complete range of university courses and currently has about 23,000 students enrolled and 1,000 professors...
after his “lectio doctoralis” on the topic of enlargement of Europe to the Eastern Countries.
In 2001 he was elected Member of the Italian Parliament with the mixed group of independent members. He was part of the IX Parliamentary Commission (Transport, Postal Services and Telecommunications) and Secretary to the Advisory Parliamentary Commission regarding the bringing into force of the administrative reforms.
He has strongly believed in and promoted the referendum not confirming the regional electoral law. When the direct election of the President was obtained, he kept his promise to the citizens of Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
and he ran as a candidate for the Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli–Venezia Giulia is one of the twenty regions of Italy, and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The capital is Trieste. It has an area of 7,858 km² and about 1.2 million inhabitants. A natural opening to the sea for many Central European countries, the region is...
Region supported by the Democratic Coalition Party (Intesa Democratica).
He was elected President of the Region in the elections held on 8th and 9 June 2003.
He was unanimously elected President of the Assembly of European Regions
Assembly of European Regions
The Assembly of European Regions , the largest independent network of regions in wider Europe. Bringing together more than 270 regions from 33 countries and 16 interregional organisations, AER is the political voice of its members and a forum for interregional co-operation.- Historical background...
(AER) in December 2004. The AER currently has 250 member Regions from 30 European countries.
On 14 April 2008 Illy was defeated in his re-election bid by candidate Renzo Tondo and his term as President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
ended on 18 April 2008.