Sergio Pininfarina

Founder and Chairman 1993 -1996

Sergio Pininfarina (Turin, 8 September 1926 – Turin, 3 July 2012) was an entrepreneur, designer and senator for life.

He graduated in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin and in 1950 joined his father’s company, of which he later became chairman.

He encouraged research in the fields of aerodynamics, safety and ecology, as well as classic formal aesthetic research.

He was a member of the board of directors of Ferrari.

From 1979 to 1988 he was a member of the European Parliament. He was chairman of the Industrial Union of Turin from 1978 to 1984, president of Confindustria from 1988 to 1992, and vice-chairman of the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe from 1990 to 1994.

In 1976 he was awarded the Order of Merit for Labour. In 1979 he was named as Knight and later Officer of the French Legion of Honour. He was awarded the Compasso d’Oro Lifetime Achievement Prize in 1995, and the Leonardo Prize in 1999. In 2008 he was appointed as Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Farnesina Design Collection of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2005 he was appointed as a senator for life of the Italian Republic.

He has received important academic awards, including honorary degrees in economics and commerce from LUISS University and the Royal College of Art in London in industrial design from the Polytechnic University of Milan in 2002, and in fine arts from the College for Creative Studies (CCS) in Detroit.