Piero Schlesinger (19 May 1930 – 14 March 2020) was an Italian jurist, banker, lawyer and academic who served as

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of the

Banca Popolare di Milano Banca Popolare di Milano S.p.A. also known as Bipiemme or just BPM is an Italian bank based in Milan, Lombardy. The bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco BPM. Banca Popolare di Milano S.c. a r.l., an urban area cooperative bank, was founde ...

from 1971 to 1993.

Career

Piero Schlesinger graduated in

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

Turin Turin ( , 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 from 1861 to 1865. The ...

. In 1956 he began his academic career at the

University of Urbino The University of Urbino "Carlo Bo" ( it, Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo", ''UniUrb'') is an Italian university located in Urbino, a walled hill-town in the region of Marche, located in the north-eastern part of central Italy. The ...

and, two years later, personally chosen by its dean and founder Father

Agostino Gemelli Agostino Gemelli (18 January 1878 – 15 July 1959) was an Italian Franciscan friar, physician and psychologist, who was also the founder and first Rector of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart) of M ...

, moved to the

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (English: ''Catholic University of the Sacred Heart'', colloquially the ''Catholic University of Milan''), known as UCSC or UNICATT or simply Cattolica, is an Italian private research university founded in 1 ...

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 ...

, where he held the chair of private law for over three decades. ''Manuale di diritto privato'', the academic textbook of private law he co-authored with , is considered one of the most studied and influential of its kind in Italy. Among his pupils were lawyers Giuseppe Lombardi and Franco Anelli. Alongside his academic commitments, Schlesinger continued to practice both

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and corporate law, and held important positions in Italian banking institutions. He joined the board of directors of the

following the shareholders' meeting of March 14, 1964. In 1971 he succeeded as the head of the institute, becoming president on March 13. He held its position continuously until 1993, except for a short time period between 1980–1981, during which he served as president of the

Istituto Mobiliare Italiano Banca IMI is a subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaolo which is specialized in investment banking and capital markets. The bank can trace its origins to the Istituto Mobiliare Italiano. IMI merged with Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino to form Sanpaolo ...

, while being replaced by . '' Il Sole 24 Ore'' wrote that during his presidency, the longest-serving in BMP's history, Schlesinger "made the institution ..a key benchmark of Lombardy's economy". In September 1982 he was appointed by Giovanni Bazoli, then head of the

Nuovo Banco Ambrosiano The Nuovo Banco Ambrosiano was the bank replacing the Banco Ambrosiano after its collapse. In 1989 the bank merged with the ''Banca Cattolica del Veneto'' (Catholic Bank of Veneto) to form the ''Banco Ambrosiano Veneto''. In 1998 the latter bank f ...

, as president of , formerly owned by infamous banker

Roberto Calvi Roberto Calvi (13 April 1920 – 17 June 1982) was an Italian banker, dubbed "God's Banker" () by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. He was a native of Milan and was chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in ...

. In 1996 he was appointed board member of the , resigning after just 17 days.

Personal life and death

Schlesinger had a lifelong marriage with child psychotherapist , with whom he had two children. He died from complications related to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

on 14 March 2020, at the

Policlinico of Milan The Policlinico of Milan ( it, Policlinico di Milano) also known as Ospedale Maggiore di Milano or Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, is one of the oldest hospitals in Italy, founded by Duke Francesco Sforza in 1456. Today it is a modern ...

, where he had been hospitalized 10 days before for unrelated health reasons.

Honours and awards

* :

Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

(22 January 1976) * : Italian Medal of Merit for Culture, School and Art (2 July 1979)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schlesinger, Piero 1930 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Italian lawyers Italian bankers Jurists from Naples Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Lombardy Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Recipients of the Italian Order of Merit for Culture and Art Academic staff of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore University of Turin alumni Academic staff of the University of Urbino 20th-century jurists 21st-century jurists