My grandfather Guido Venosta ‘worked for a long time at Pirelli – where his father Giuseppe, a ‘famous Pirelli engineer’, was General Manager and inventor of the first modern football (…)’. (p. 84).
It can be considered a small, great pride, especially for someone who, like me, has always played and still enjoys kicking a ball, to have discovered that my great-grandfather himself, in 1922, filed a patent for the production of his ancestor.
The new ball with a rubber core, called the ‘Pirelli Corazza’, which was much stronger and more durable than the leather balls used until then, was also advertised through beautiful posters like this one, designed by Marcello Dudovich, considered one of the founders of 20th century advertising posters and one of the greatest Italian designers and poster artists.
For the patent see Pirelli Foundation, Pirelli Historical Archives, ‘Patents Ing. Giuseppe Venosta’. On the “famous Pirelli engineer” see Pirelli’s patents: a history of invention and creativity, article of 13/04/2016 on https://www.pirelli.com.
M. Dudovich, Corazza Pirelli, Museo Nazionale Collezione Salce, Direzione regionale Musei Veneto, published by concession of the Ministry of Culture and Fondazione Pirelli.
