Maramotti, Achille
Achille Maramotti (1927 – 2005) was an Italian entrepreneur, founder of MaxMara textile group.
His history
Born in Reggio Emilia on 7th January 1927, he started working in the textile sector thanks to his mother Giulia, who raised him alone after the early death of his father Giuseppe, a language professor. Young Achille, even though he had just earned a law degree, decided to follow his mother’s career. In 1951 the first Max Mara proto-models were produced from illustrated news magazine: they were two paletots and a tailleur. More than the tailor, Maramotti wanted to be an entrepreneur. That was when he had a great intuition: instead of sewing garments one by one, their production would take place through machinery arranged in series to save time and money.
The business with banks
After a period on the Board of Directors of the Cassa di Risparmio, Maramotti took over the Banca Agricola, calling it Credito Emiliano, Credem, which is still the family safe. Later, he entered in Credito Romagnolo; so, in 1994, when this ended in the orbit of Credito Italiano, after the takeover bid, the entrepreneur took over 2 % of the shares of that institute, which would later become Unicredit. He was appointed member of the Board of Directors by Unicredit, a role he then held in Mediobanca as well, becoming the fourth richest man in Italy, with estimated assets of two and a half billion euros.
The patronage
Achille Maramotti also was a patron and he significantly invested in the art world. Passionate collector of contemporary artworks, he is among the first Italian entrepreneurs to sponsor culture: he financed, indeed, the Kabuki theatre festival at the Municipal Theatre of his hometown and put together a private collection, consisting of artworks from 1945 to today, which represent some of the main Italian and international artistic trends that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century.
His death
Achille Maramotti died on 12th January 2005, in Reggio Emilia, at the age of 78, after a long illness. The management of the MaxMara Group definitively passed to his children Maria Ludovica, Luigi and Ignazio.
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