The eyes of Lina Tombolato they shine like the green of the dress she is wearing, sitting on the sofa where she and her husband are Ennio Doris they watched television hand in hand. At home as in life: 59 years together. A journey that began on a bicycle, passing through the Fiat 850 from his honeymoon in 1966, the Citroën Pallas from 1973 when he had become the best seller in Dival, the helicopter from the 90s to return to Tombolo, in Veneto, from Milan , where he created with Silvio Berlusconi what would become Mediolanum Bank, up to the jet for business trips or holidays. And they are always the same: two boys from Tombolo who have never forgotten where they started from.
The film that tells her husband’s story is at the cinema: “There’s Tomorrow Too”. Were you more moved by Massimo Ghini, in the role of adult Ennio, or Daniel Santantonio, him as a boy?
«They were all very good. But I was moved when I saw my in-laws, wonderful people, and at the first meeting between Ennio and me.”
He had been keeping an eye on him for a while…
«For a year, but I was six years younger and he didn’t see me… Until, when I was 15 and he was 22, we met at my uncle’s house. Aunt Elvira had warned me.”
Isn’t the title penalized by the almost homonymous film by Paola Cortellesi?
«He surprised us when his came out. Ours refers to Ennio’s autobiography published in 2014 by Sperling & Kupfer: “There is also tomorrow” was his motto, he always had his gaze turned to the future.”
The portrait that director Giacomo Campiotti gives of it is very fairytale-like.
«If I look back, our life was truly a fairy tale. Indeed, the screenplay was fictionalized to create, for example, an antagonist who wasn’t there.”
When you got married, did you imagine you would get this far?
«No, but I had blind faith in Ennio’s intuitions. Of course, I smile when I think that to get married we asked our uncle for a loan, and that with that money we bought the bedroom that cost the least in order to go and live with his parents. But we believed in our dreams. I would like the film to be seen in schools to instill hope in today’s children.”
Which he knows well, given that he has seven grandchildren, aged 14 to 27. Who does she see as her husband again?
«Both in the children of Massimo and Sara. Aqua has a bubbly character, Alberto dreams of being a director, Lunachiara is thoughtful, Sara Viola is sweet, Agnese works hard, Davide is the little one, even though he is already 85 feet tall, Anna has determination, and is the ‘only redhead’.
Do you still have the letters you wrote to each other as kids?
«Yes, Sara has them. We sent them to each other in the summer, when I was at the seaside in Jesolo with her sister. He joined us on Saturdays by bus. I remember our salty kisses: our song was Sapore di sale».
She was waiting for him for dinner.
«He also arrived after midnight, but it was a moment just for us. He loved popular cuisine. Then when we were able to afford a chef, if he prepared schnitzel and risotto for the children and elaborate dishes for us, he asked for the same things cooked for the children.”
He passed away on November 24, 2021. What do you miss most?
«Everyday life, small gestures. Me preparing clothes for him to wear with the twins, us dancing the tango in dressing gowns…”.
Rest in Tombolo. Do you visit him often?
«Yes, as soon as I get home I go to him first. But my husband is here, in my heart. The nice thing is that at the cemetery I always find notes and flowers left by employees who go to say goodbye.”
He always encouraged him.
«I also encouraged the wives of our sales people! We were two optimists. The rule: never complain.”
Did you not hesitate even when he decided to reimburse the clients overwhelmed by the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers out of his own pocket, therefore yours?
«It wasn’t enough to agree, I had to sign a document. And I knew it was the right thing. Ennio’s banker of reference was Amadeo Peter Giannini, one of the founders of the Bank of America. Lehman Brothers gave us the opportunity to show what Ennio was made of.”
How much did you earn when you left Dival to found Programma Italia with Berlusconi?
«124 million lire per month. I was the one who encouraged him. I told him: don’t you want to leave something important to your children?”.
A memory of Berlusconi?
«Genius, generosity, altruism. There was never a time when we returned without a gift from her after a visit.”
He had a different love life than yours.
«Many things have been invented. It remains a very fond private memory for me. Our families met a week before he died and I see him again with a pad and pen while he wrote what he wanted to do for Italy.”
You have cultivated childhood friends.
«Ennio invited them on road shows. During the plane journeys he played cards with them, they laughed, then he worked and they acted as tourists.”
Mediolanum is still a sponsor of the Giro d’Italia, with the blue jersey.
«We have wonderful memories linked to the Giro. We followed him with friends, we brought packed lunches and ate on the lawns.”
When nostalgia attacks you, what do you do?
«When it’s a lot, I cry. But I also feel a great responsibility towards my children, my grandchildren and the family of our family bankers. Soon I will go to Oman with them on a reward trip.”
Tags: fairy tale married asked uncle loan
