SNIA S.p.A.
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SNIA S.p.A. was an
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 ...
firm located in
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
that manufactured defence products, textiles, chemicals, perfumes, and corrugated paper among other products.


History

The ''Società di Navigazione Italo-Americana'' (SNIA) was founded as a shipping company in 1917 in Turin by the financier
Riccardo Gualino Riccardo Gualino (25 March 1879 – 6 June 1964) was an Italian Business magnate and art collector. He was also a patron, and an important film producer. His first business empire was based on lumber from Eastern Europe and included forest concess ...
of
Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
.
Giovanni Agnelli Giovanni Agnelli (13 August 1866 – 16 December 1945) was an Italian businessman, who founded Fiat car manufacturing in 1899. Early life The son of Edoardo Agnelli and Aniceta Frisetti, he was born in 1866 in Villar Perosa, a small town near ...
of
Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...
was vice-president of SNIA from 1917 to 1926. Gualino and Agnelli became involved in the profitable transport of US aid to Europe in 1917. In the early 1920s SNIA began to manufacture artificial textile fibers. Artificial cellulose fibers had been produced before the war, but SNIA was the first to mass-produce rayon. The company was given the new name of SNIA Viscosa (''Società nazionale industria e applicazioni viscosa'', National Rayon Manufacturing and Application Company). Gualino made huge investments in SNIA Viscosa. By the mid-1920s SNIA Viscosa was the largest company in Italy in terms of capital. By 1926 SNIA Viscosa had become the second-largest rayon producer in the world. The United States produced more rayon in total, but Italy was the world's largest rayon exporter. In 1927–28
Courtaulds Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals. It was established in 1794 and became the world's leading man-made fibre production company before being broken up in 1990 into Courtaulds ...
and
Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken Vereinigte Glanzstoff-Fabriken (VGF, United Rayon Factories) was a German manufacturer of artificial fiber founded in 1899 that became one of the leading European producers of rayon. During the first thirty years VGF cooperated closely with the B ...
(VGF) gained control of SNIA Viscosa. A German director of VGF, Karl Scherer, replaced Gualino as head of the firm and cut output drastically. The foreign intervention was seen as humiliating by the fascists. In 1930 Gualino was forced sell his share in SNIA Viscosa and many other investments to try to reduce his debt. By this time the company had lost its leadership position, but in 1931 it was the first to manufacture short-fiber flock, and the first to produce cellulose from reeds to eliminate dependence on imported materials. Only barely surviving the
crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...
, SNIA recovered under the leadership of Franco Marinotti and enjoyed prosperity until
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, when the manufacturing plants were heavily bombed by the Allies. Post-1945, Marinotti again restored the firm to being a profitable enterprise. After acquiring
Bombrini-Parodi-Delfino Bombrini-Parodi-Delfino (better known as BPD), was a chemical company founded in 1912 by Giovanni Bombrini and Leopoldo Parodi-Delfino to produce gunpowder and explosives. Around its location in Colleferro (south of Rome) soon grew a small town ...
in 1968, SNIA also produced weapons systems such as the Medusa rocket system. SNIA later also manufactured medical products following its merger with
Sorin Group The Sorin Group was a medical products group based in Italy, with significant operations in France, the United States, and Japan, specializing in cardiac devices. Its product lines include replacement heart valves, oxygenators, perfusion tubing s ...
in the 1980s. In November 2009, SNIA's debt reached almost 25 million Euros. As of December 2009, SNIA was to present its debt-restructuring plan to the Milan court system for approval. The attempt to save the firm failed in April 2010 and the firm was declared insolvent by the Court of Milan. In December 2010, the
Italian Stock Exchange Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.i ...
ordered the withdrawal of SNIA ordinary shares and bonds from the market.finanza.repubblica.it
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See also

* Snia Milano


Notes


Sources

* * * * *


External links


Time Magazine article on SNIA Viscosa in 1957.Corporate website
{{Authority control Aerospace companies of Italy Defence companies of Italy Defunct companies of Italy Chemical companies of Italy Manufacturing companies based in Milan Italian brands Chemical companies established in 1917 Technology companies established in 1917 Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1917 Technology companies disestablished in 2010 1917 establishments in Italy