Enzo Ferrari in conversation with Enzo Biagi
In dialogue with Enzo Biagi, the drake told himself in detail.
Enzo Biagi – whose 100th birthday was celebrated in 2020 – was one of the greatest expressions of journalistic and intellectual mediation in Italian history. His way of creating culture and giving the community the critical and analytical sense of society is to this day a reference model.
The universally acknowledged quality is the aplomb with which he has dealt with every subject and character before him, regardless of social rank or worldview. An example of how he managed to converse like no other with even edgy and controversial characters is the 1982 interview with Enzo Ferrari. One of those rare moments where the Drake character is naked from the almost divine mask of the Ferrari boss to make himself human and fragile.
It is thanks to Biagi that the general public could, and still can, appreciate the great humanistic inspirations of the founder of Ferrari, beyond myth.
Biagi: “Is there another job you would like to have?”
Ferrari: «The tenor of the operetta or the journalist».
“What quality do you value most?”
“Sincerity”.
“The goal, the most important goal, is to win?”
“No, it’s staying afloat. And it’s very difficult. You can wake up one morning, like I did, world champion, and the trouble starts right then. I was dismayed: “God, what do I do now?”».
«Of the protagonists of the past and of the contemporaries, who do you admire most?».
«From what I have read, Napoleon: mathematician, legislator, general, and he was also a highly respected amateur. Then it’s enough: in order to make a judgement, you have to wait until people die.
“What is the most important satisfaction for you? Founded a company, a name with enormous prestige or felt like Enzo Ferrari?».
«What I did was nothing more than the realization of a youthful fantasy that allowed me to satisfy my wild selfishness. The important thing is not to annoy others: but who can?».
“Are you religious? Do you believe in God?”
“I believe in something I haven’t been able to pinpoint yet.”
“How do you deal with inevitable defeats?”
«With the weighting that the teaching deserves because it is it».
“How would you like to be remembered?”
“I’d rather be silent, if I could I’d say forget me. What I’ve done I’ve only done for myself and if anyone has benefited from it, great, but it was just an unforeseen consequence. The starting point was a very personal matter.
“How is your day?”
“It starts with reading eleven political and sports newspapers and ends around eight or nine in the evening with signing the correspondence. I don’t go to the cinema, to the theatre, to the sea, to the mountains, nowhere, I don’t go on vacation”.
“There was also a lot of bitterness for her, a lot of pain. Do you sometimes feel alone?
“I always am, even when I attend meetings or speak to visitors. I was against everything and everyone and tried to be alone in those terribly sad moments when you question yourself.”
Other examples are hard to find such human intimacy by EnzoFerrari. From this interview we can also admire the value of the dialogue that only an intellectual of Enzo Biagi’s caliber could convey, thus making the matter usable for the general public. A “journalistic” quality that is now on the verge of extinction.
The words Biagi used to describe the relationship to one’s own work and to Italy they still resonate today, even very topical: “I’ll admit I have a soft spot for ordinary people who celebrate anniversaries, believe in proverbs, have modest paychecks, practice the ancient art of saving. We no longer know what country we are in, nobody talks about little Italy struggling to survive, what are the dreams of the young and the fears of the old, why comedians become politicians and why politics don’t act with People. Let’s walk around to see if there’s still hope.” Doubts, perspectives that the two Enzos undoubtedly shared.
