Chairman of the Board and President of Marazzi Group Filippo Marazzi died on Tuesday night of natural causes.

Filippo Marazzi, born in Sassuolo in 1949, has been responsible for the growth of the company founded by his grandfather in 1935.

If Marazzi today is one of the few true Italian multinationals, a brand and a business model renowned around the world, it is thanks to its Chairman Filippo Marazzi, his entrepreneurial spirit, the novelty of his ideas and his humanity, which have always been recognized within and outside the company.

Filippo Marazzi led the most important ceramic company, from the ceramics district of Sassuolo to the top of the industry at an international level.

Since the early 80s, after taking control of the company following the death of his father Pietro in 1978, Filippo Marazzi began the Group’s internationalization process  with the establishment of production facilities in Spain and in the United States by Marazzi Iberia S.A. and American Marazzi Tile Inc.

In February 1992, he was awarded the first honorary degree in chemistry granted by the Department of Mathematics, Physics and Natural Sciences of the University of Modena (Italy), for his "pioneering work in promoting the study and application of avant-garde ceramic materials and for his important scientific contribution to the development of a very important sector in solid-state chemistry”.

In June 1995, Filippo Marazzi was given the honorary title of “Cavaliere del Lavoro” by the then President of the Italian Republic, Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.

In 2002, he received the Pico della Mirandola Prize in “recognition of one who, with passion, conviction and spirit of self-sacrifice, throughout his business dealings supported an enterprise culture which promoted and consolidated the ‘Made in Italy’ label worldwide”.