Emilio Pucci, Marquis of Barsento (), (20 November 1914 – 29 November 1992) was a
Florentine Italian fashion designer and politician. He and his eponymous company are synonymous with geometric prints in a kaleidoscope of colours.
Early life
Emilio Pucci was born in 1914 of one of Florence’s oldest noble families, and would live and work in the Pucci Palace in Florence for much of his life. He was a keen sportsman, who swam, skied, fenced, played tennis and raced cars. At the age of 17 he travelled to
Lake Placid as part of the
Italian team at the
1932 Winter Olympics,
After two years at the University of Milan, he studied agriculture at the
University of Georgia in
Athens, Georgia, where he became a member of the
Demosthenian Literary Society. In 1935 he won a skiing scholarship to
Reed College in
Oregon, received an MA in social science from Reed in 1937, and was awarded his doctorate (
laurea) in political science from the
University of Florence the same year. In 1938 he joined the
Italian Air Force, and served as a S.M. 79
torpedo bomber pilot during World War II, rising to the rank of captain<ref...
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