The Florio family is a prominent entrepreneurial

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

family who started many lucrative activities in

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

involving above all the exportation of Sicilian products (such as

Marsala wine Marsala is a fortified wine, dry or sweet, produced in the region surrounding the Italian city of Marsala in Sicily. Marsala first received ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata'' (DOC) status in 1969. The European Union grants Protected Desi ...

) in the nineteenth century, in some ways redeeming Sicily from feudal immobility.
Treccani Dizionario di Economia e Finanza (2012) (retrieved 10 April 2018) The family extended its interests to shipping, shipbuilding, fisheries, mining, metallurgy and ceramics.L'Ora: la sua storia
Agave (Contributo allo studio delle fonti della storia dell'arte in Italia nel Novecento - Università degli Studi di Palermo)

Founder

The founder of the dynasty was

Vincenzo Florio Sr. Vincenzo Florio Sr. (Bagnara Calabra, 4 April 1799 – Palermo, 11 September 1868) was an Italian entrepreneur and politician, member of the rich Florio economic dynasty, one of the wealthiest Sicilian families during the late 19th century. Ea ...

(1799-1868), who gave impulse to the tuna fishing and its canned preparation in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. He also was involved in the

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

industry and founded a bank. In 1832 he established a factory of

and, in 1841, the Oretea foundry. As a ship owner he promoted the development of maritime communications with the continent, building numerous steamers. His son

Ignazio Florio Sr. Ignazio Florio Sr. ( Palermo, 16 December 1838 – Palermo, 17 May 1891) was an Italian entrepreneur and politician, member of the rich Florio economic dynasty, one of the wealthiest Italian families during the late 19th century. Biography The ...

(1838-1891) considerably developed all the other industries founded by his father. In the beginning of the 1900s, the family had to face an increasingly deteriorated economic reality in Sicily and suffered failures and closures of activities.

Florio winery

Founded in

Marsala Marsala (, local ; la, Lilybaeum) is an Italian town located in the Province of Trapani in the westernmost part of Sicily. Marsala is the most populated town in its province and the fifth in Sicily. The town is famous for the docking of Gius ...

in 1832 by Vincenzo Florio Sr., the Florio winery (''Cantine Florio'') has been in continuous

production since then. Florio became the first Italian producer of Marsala wine. He built splendid cellars in the town's tuff rock in which to produce and conserve the wine. The winery carries the emblem of a lion.

Shipping

In October 1861, soon after Sicily was incorporated into the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

founded the ''Societa in Accomandita Piroscafi Postali-Ignazio & Vicenzo Florio'' (Florio Line) with a fleet of nine steamers.Florio Line / Società in Accomandita Piroscafi Postali-Ignazio & Vicenzo Florio
TheShipsList (retrieved 13 April 2018) In 1881,

merged with the Rubattino company in

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, giving rise to the

Navigazione Generale Italiana Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI) was an Italian shipping company. History The company formed in 1881 by the merger of '' I & V. Florio'' of Palermo and ''Raffaele Rubattino'' of Genoa. At the time of the merger, the two companies both operate ...

, which operated a line on

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The company also ran to

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal mediterranean sea of the Atlantic Ocean lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bounded by Bulgaria, Georgia, Roma ...

ports, Canada, India, the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

and South America.Navigazione Generale Italiana Line
TheShipsList (retrieved 13 April 2018) At the time of the merger, the Florio Line was already a major company with a monopoly of the trade in the Mediterranean. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described the Florios as the "merchant princes of Europe". The Florio Line brought 50 ships into the merger, while Rubattino contributed 40.American Trade With Italy; A New Steam-Ship Line Started To Foster It

, June 19, 1881, Page 8 The

Cantiere navale di Palermo ''Cantiere navale di Palermo'' (Palermo Shipyard) is a shipyard in Palermo, Sicily. The premise falls within the Port of Palermo area. The Port Authority agreed a State concession to Fincantieri expiring 2057. The shipyard has two graving docks ...

(Palermo Shipyard) in

, Sicily, was founded in 1897 by

Ignazio Florio Jr. Ignazio Florio Jr. (Palermo, 1 September 1869 – Palermo, 19 September 1957) was an Italian entrepreneur, heir of the rich Florio economic dynasty, one of the wealthiest Italian families during the late 19th century.

, grandson of Vincenzo Florio. Construction was protracted and Florio was forced to sell his stake in the shipyard to

Attilio Odero Saint Attilio, one of the legendary martyrs of the Theban Legion, is venerated as a saint in the area of Trino Vercellese, in Piedmont, north-west Italy and commemorated on 28 June. However his cult is no longer officially recognized by the Rom ...

in 1905.

Newspaper

The newspaper ''

L'Ora ''L'Ora'' (English: ''The Hour'') was a Sicilian daily newspaper published in Palermo. The paper was founded in 1900 and stopped being published in 1992. In the 1950s-1980s the paper was known for its investigative reporting about the Sicilian Maf ...

'' was founded on the initiative of the Florio family in Palermo. The first issue was published on April 22, 1900. The formal owner was Carlo Di Rudinì, the son of the former prime minister of Italy

Antonio Di Rudinì Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

, but the main shareholder and financier was

The political direction of the newspaper was generally

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

, representing the Sicilian entrepreneurial middle class.

Motor racing

In 1906,

Vincenzo Florio Vincenzo Florio Jr. (18 March 1883 – 6 January 1959) was an Italian entrepreneur, heir of the rich Florio entrepreneurial dynasty, one of the wealthiest Italian families during the late 19th century.Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

, one of the oldest car races in the world. The first Targa Florio covered 277 miles through multiple hairpin curves on treacherous mountain roads where severe changes in climate frequently occurred and racers even faced bandits and irate shepherds. The race passed through many small villages, and fans lined up along the roads with no protection from the race cars. It was suspended in 1978 because of safety concerns. Today, the race continues with a different circuit as a minor racing event.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florio family Wineries of Italy Marsala History of Sicily