Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi

Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi (born in 1952) is an Italian businessman, currently President of Valsoia,[1] an Italian health food company. He is president of the Italian Advertisers Association (Utenti Pubblicità Associati - UPA) and President of the Bologna Museum of Modern Art (MAMbo).[2] He also holds board-level positions on a number of important regional industrial associations and charities.

Education and early career

Born in Paris, Sassoli de Bianchi graduated in medicine at Bologna University in 1977, where he subsequently worked as a neurologist specialising in sleep diseases until 1985, including a residency at Stanford University in the USA. Driven by a passion for art, he simultaneously studied for a degree in Art History and Criticism, which he received from the UIA University in Florence in 1981.

In 1985, Sassoli de Bianchi joined the Board of Directors of the family firm, distillers Buton, the makers of Vecchia Romagna brandy. Initially called upon for his skills as a mediator, he was swiftly entrusted with the strategic direction of the company and appointed Chief Executive Officer later in the year.

Valsoia

Valsoia was founded in 1990 as the first Italian health food company to apply mass marketing techniques and to emphasise the pleasures as well as the health qualities of its products.

Valsoia was one of the very first companies in Italy to offer a manager buy-in stock option and encouraging staff participation at all levels. It was in this spirit that the company went public in 2006.[3]

Other responsibilities

Sassoli de Bianchi was appointed President of the UPA in June 2007[4] and subsequently reappointed for a further 3 years in 2009.[5] He was also appointed President of the Bologna Museum of Modern Art (1995, reappointed for a further 5 years in 2009), Vice Chairman of the Emilia Romagna Region Ministerial Commission for Culture and the Arts, and a Board Member of Bologna’s Association of Businessmen (Unindustria) and of the Bologna Festival Musical Association. Past responsibilities saw him acting as Vice Chairman of the Bologna Confederation of Industry (Confindustria) and as a Board Member of the Bologna development agency Promo-Bologna and of the Bologna Film Library. Sassoli de Bianchi’s extensive charitable commitments include board-level positions on two eminent charities, the Centro San Domenico cultural association and the Fondazione del Monte, which provides support in the areas of social solidarity, community development, scientific research and the arts and culture.

An art collector and critic, Sassoli de Bianchi has published widely on modern and contemporary art, with essays on Raul Dufy, Salvator Dalí, Julian Schnabel, Zhang Xiaotao and Feng Zengjie amongst others. He is the author of the books China: contemporary painting and From Heaven to Earth (2008), and contributed the introduction and two essays to the book Primary Colours [6] on the artist Feng Zhengjie.

Sassoli de Bianchi was the curator of the 2009 Pu Jie exhibition in Beijing.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Italian stock exchange: 29 April 2008 14:40 - Valsoia: Sassoli reappointed President
  2. ↑ Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi President of MAMbo elected President of the UPA
  3. ↑ Business Online: Valsoia: excellent stock exchange debut
  4. ↑ Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi officially new President of the UPA
  5. ↑ Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi reappointed President of the UPA
  6. ↑ Singapore Art Museum Publications List
  7. ↑ Pu Jie: Look Ahead Look Back

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