Francesco Merloni, honorary president of Ariston Group, passed away today at his home in Fabriano at the age of 99. Entrepreneur and Knight of Labor, originally from Fabriano, in the province of Ancona, Francesco Merloni was one of the protagonists of Italian industry who, taking up his father’s legacy, dedicated his career to the international development of the family business. After graduating in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Pisa, in 1953 he joined the family business, which is based in the Marche region, contributing to its growth and production diversification. In the 1970s he assumed responsibility for the development of the water heating sector and began the process of international expansion of the company by opening markets and industrial sites in Europe and Asia.
Thanks to his far-sighted vision and tenacious faith in the future, he has promoted a business model capable of combining global competition, territorial roots and social responsibility. A politician, Merloni was a parliamentarian for seven legislatures, from 1972 to 2001, and minister of public works in the Amato and Ciampi governments, from 1992 to 1994, placing himself at the service of the state at a time that changed the history of the Italian Republic. In 1995 he was nominated Cavaliere del Lavoro by the President of the Republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, in recognition of his contribution to national socio-economic development. In 2011 he passed the reins of the company to his son Paolo, now executive president of Ariston Group, to continue to follow its development in the role of Honorary President, without ever losing his passion for metalworking, production processes and factory life.
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