Filippo Caracciolo di Castagneto

Filippo Caracciolo di Castagneto was a member of the Italian nobility, being born into the House of Caracciolo. Born in 1903, he became the 3rd Duke of Melito at the age of nine, and in 1938 became the 8th Prince of Castagneto. He was also the hereditary Patrician of the Duchy of Napoli.

Caracciolo graduated in political science and economics, and in the 1930s took diplomatic assignments to Turkey, Switzerland, and France. In 1944 he was secretary, and then undersecretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Italian Committee of Liberation (CNL), in Pietro Badoglio’s government. After World War II, Caracciolo di Castagneto joined the Partito d’Azione, and from 1949-54 was secretary-general of the Council of Europe.

In the early part of the 1950s Caracciolo was president of the Italian Car Club (ACI), and from 1951-65 was president of the ecology movement, Italia Nostra. Between 1963-65 he was president of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). He held many other posts and was also the author of various literary works including I canti di ognuno, I trionfi, Il vivaio.

Caracciolo had three children Nicola, Marella (1927-2019), who was the wife of Gianni Agnelli, president of FIAT, and Carlo (1925-2008), who inherited his father’s title in 1965, and founded the newspaper La Repubblica.