9 replies to this topic

[Nanni Dietrich]

Another quite obscure mystery regarding Count Sterzi's given name.

 

Count Sterzi was an Italian nobleman, a businessman and a racing driver. Owner of Cartiere Sterzi S.p.A. a large paper-making factory, he was an accomplished sportscar driver in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

 

He co-founded with Prince Igor Troubetzkoy, in 1948 Scuderia Inter, and Enzo Ferrari sold them three Ferrari 166 S, among the first cars made by the Italian manufacturer, to participate in sportscar competitions. That year, one of the Scuderia Inter's Ferrari won the Targa Florio-Giro di Sicilia, driven by Troubetzkoy himself, paired with Clemente Biondetti. Count Sterzi with Soave Besana in the sister car, finished sixth in that race.

 

Amongst Count Sterzi's career's best results were his outright wins in the Coppa Inter-Europa at Monza in 1949 and in 1952 and in the Coppa della Toscana and Bolzano-Mendola hillclimb, also in 1952.

 

The mystery is about his given name.

 

Most of the reliable sources, books, websites, newspapers show the name of Bruno Sterzi.

 

But different accounts indicate his name to be Enrico. Even Emanuele Alberto Carli's book "Settant'anni di gare automobilistiche in Italia" (which is usually a reliable and substantial source, with some, occasional bugs) has three drivers in the list by the name of Sterzi (Bruno, Enrico and Luigi) all of them active in the late 1940s/early 1950s.

 

It is likely that the correct name is Bruno Sterzi. 

Don't know whether Count Bruno Sterzi had brothers.

Edited by Nanni Dietrich, 21 October 2023 - 17:36.

[Doug Nye]

Was he in fact a legitimate noble Count or was this a title assumed or adopted by a wealthy but in reality non-noble family...?

 

DCN

[Nanni Dietrich]

In the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan, Italy, there is the Family Sterzi's mausoleum, where among others there is the gravestone of "Count Bruno Sterzi  22-05-1922 / 09-11-1980" and  his father "Conte Grand Uff. Antonio Sterzi  06-06-1884 / 25-11-1946" .

But there are also "Enrico Sterzi 31-10-1927 / 22-04- 2006" and his twin "Mario Sterzi 31-10-1927 / 08-11-2012", presumably Bruno sterzi's younger brothers. 

So, we are sure Bruno and Enrico Sterzi were two different persons (the name of Luigi Sterzi indicated by some sources, seems to be a misprint)

Enrico Sterzi was a race car driver himself. He is reported to have competed in sportscar racing in the mid-1950s, well after Bruno's retirement in 1953.

[RCH]

Was he in fact a legitimate noble Count or was this a title assumed or adopted by a wealthy but in reality non-noble family...?

 

DCN

All I can say is that my late girlfriend/partner/companion Antonia (Mike Kable's niece) signed herself into a swanky night club as La Contessa di Prosdocimi claiming that her part Italian grandmother said that Conte/Contessa were courtesy titles which could be used by descendants of noble Italians. Her great great grandfather Giacomo Prosdocimi was a railway engineer in Australia and no obvious descendant of the noble Florentine banking family. 

[Sterzo]

^ By the same token, Count Sterzi would regard me as quite singular if I used his title.

[alessandro silva]

Cartiere Sterzi was a very large and old (dating from early XIX century) conglomerate of paper mills, so most likely the owners were recently ennobled  as per Doug’s surmise.

==

I have Enrico Sterzi racing in four Mille Miglias:

1952 codriver O. Rossi race number 208 Lancia Aurelia DNF

1953 codriver O. Rossi race number 446 Ferrari 166MM/53 spider Vignale 15th overall 5th up to 2000cc class

1954 codriver O. Rossi race number 512 Ferrari 500 Mondial 15th overall 5th up to 2000cc class

1955 codriver V. Viganò race number 650 maserati A6GCS 17^th overall 5th up to 2000cc class

Besides the Parma-Poggio di Berceto (2nd overall 1955) mentioned by Nanni Dietrich there should be at least a 1953 Giro di Sicilia and a 3^rd overall in the Pescara 12 hours of 1953 codriving with Franco Cortese.

Not an incompetent in conclusion.

==

I do not have results for a Luigi Sterzi.

==

Facts about Bruno Sterzi.

Titles were abolished in Italy in 1946, but many families kept using them, as Bruno Sterzi certainly did.

His wife was a Gabriella Besana. I do not know if she was related to Soave and Gabriele, the other early Italian Ferrari customers. It is likely but it would be interesting to know.

Bruno committed suicide. He was CEO of the family industry that was going through a big crisis (in fact it closed in 1980). He set up a fire in the Milano plant and threw himself in.

==

I have to thank Nanni Dietrich for providing Bruno’s date of birth, as I knew only the year. Maybe Nanni could make another trip to the Milan Cemetery and see if Soave and Gabriele Besana are buried there.

[Doug Nye]

Bruno's demise.  Oooh - quite shocked to read that this morning...  But thanks for adding so much about the Sterzi family.

 

DCN

[Bloggsworth]

Was he in fact a legitimate noble Count or was this a title assumed or adopted by a wealthy but in reality non-noble family...?

 

DCN

What? You maean like Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Earl Hines?

[Henk Vasmel]

Cartiere Sterzi was a very large and old (dating from early XIX century) conglomerate of paper mills, so most likely the owners were recently ennobled  as per Doug’s surmise.

==

I have Enrico Sterzi racing in four Mille Miglias:

1952 codriver O. Rossi race number 208 Lancia Aurelia DNF

1953 codriver O. Rossi race number 446 Ferrari 166MM/53 spider Vignale 15th overall 5th up to 2000cc class

1954 codriver O. Rossi race number 512 Ferrari 500 Mondial 15th overall 5th up to 2000cc class

1955 codriver V. Viganò race number 650 maserati A6GCS 17^th overall 5th up to 2000cc class

Besides the Parma-Poggio di Berceto (2nd overall 1955) mentioned by Nanni Dietrich there should be at least a 1953 Giro di Sicilia and a 3^rd overall in the Pescara 12 hours of 1953 codriving with Franco Cortese.

Not an incompetent in conclusion.

==

I do not have results for a Luigi Sterzi.

==

Facts about Bruno Sterzi.

Titles were abolished in Italy in 1946, but many families kept using them, as Bruno Sterzi certainly did.

His wife was a Gabriella Besana. I do not know if she was related to Soave and Gabriele, the other early Italian Ferrari customers. It is likely but it would be interesting to know.

Bruno committed suicide. He was CEO of the family industry that was going through a big crisis (in fact it closed in 1980). He set up a fire in the Milano plant and threw himself in.

==

I have to thank Nanni Dietrich for providing Bruno’s date of birth, as I knew only the year. Maybe Nanni could make another trip to the Milan Cemetery and see if Soave and Gabriele Besana are buried there.

 

I have Soave Besana in the 1948 Targa Florio, together with Bruno Sterzi. Car (297), Ferrari 166 C-010I, Result 6th. 

This suggests a link between Sterzi and the Besana family (no proof)

Extra mention for Goffredo Zehender, who crashed. That is possibly the reason why he didn't start. Original car was either 006I or 004C (unlikely).

 

Additional information:

Enrico Sterzi:  1952 MM: with Silvio Rossi

                       1953 Giro Di Sicilia. Car (401) with Enzo Pinzero. Ferrari 166MM/53-0278M (same as MM '53), R: 12

                       1953 Pescara. Car (60) with Franco Cortese, Same car. R: 3

                       1954 MM: 500 Mondial-0534MD (0404MD; 0414MD; 0418MD also mentioned). SEFAC entry                     

                       1955 MM: Maserati A6GCS/53-2092

[JoBo]

Cartiere Sterzi was a very large and old (dating from early XIX century) conglomerate of paper mills, so most likely the owners were recently ennobled  as per Doug’s surmise.

==

I have Enrico Sterzi racing in four Mille Miglias:

1952 codriver O. Rossi race number 208 Lancia Aurelia DNF

1953 codriver O. Rossi race number 446 Ferrari 166MM/53 spider Vignale 15th overall 5th up to 2000cc class

1954 codriver O. Rossi race number 512 Ferrari 500 Mondial 15th overall 5th up to 2000cc class

1955 codriver V. Viganò race number 650 maserati A6GCS 17^th overall 5th up to 2000cc class

Besides the Parma-Poggio di Berceto (2nd overall 1955) mentioned by Nanni Dietrich there should be at least a 1953 Giro di Sicilia and a 3^rd overall in the Pescara 12 hours of 1953 codriving with Franco Cortese.

Not an incompetent in conclusion.

==

I do not have results for a Luigi Sterzi.

==

Facts about Bruno Sterzi.

Titles were abolished in Italy in 1946, but many families kept using them, as Bruno Sterzi certainly did.

His wife was a Gabriella Besana. I do not know if she was related to Soave and Gabriele, the other early Italian Ferrari customers. It is likely but it would be interesting to know.

Bruno committed suicide. He was CEO of the family industry that was going through a big crisis (in fact it closed in 1980). He set up a fire in the Milano plant and threw himself in.

==

I have to thank Nanni Dietrich for providing Bruno’s date of birth, as I knew only the year. Maybe Nanni could make another trip to the Milan Cemetery and see if Soave and Gabriele Besana are buried there.

Sterzi owned the company Cartiere Antonio Sterzi S.p.A. at Via Quadrigo 17 in Milan. Enrico Sterzi, who participated in the 1955 Mille Miglia, was his younger brother.

Edited by JoBo, 03 November 2023 - 08:51.