Press Interpreter

10/10/05 -- The alarm was given by a girl who was with him. His father is reassuring: "He's much better now."

Turin -- The news spread around one in the afternoon: Lapo Elkann, 28 years old for only a week, grandson of Avvocato Agnelli*, has been admitted to the intensive therapy unit in the resuscitation department of Torino's Mauriziano hospital. It wasn't because of "respiratory deficiency on a pharmacological basis," as Fiat hastened to explain, but because of a drug cocktail including cocaine. His father, Alain, the writer, says that now his son "is doing better." In fact, "he's doing much better," but the doctors are forced to keep him in a pharmacological coma and have him on tubes. "The prognosis is private," said Giuseppe Spina, the chief of the department, "even though the patient's life isn't in danger."

Lapo Elkann arrived at the hospital in an ambulance around nine in the morning. His condition was discovered after the girl who was with him dialed 118 [Italian equivalent of 911 in the United States], in a penthouse that Fiat makes available to its own directors, in the exclusive neighborhood of Crocetta. The girl is Brazilian, but nothing more is known. The hospital administration has its lips sealed, and the story Fiat has given doesn't explain the reasons for the hospital visit, limited to reaffirming that "the manager's condition shouldn't arouse any concerns and is clinically benign."**

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the turn of events and have asked the police to ascertain whether any third parties were involved. It is still unclear whether Lapo, and the girl who called for help, had spent the evening with other people: some say there might have been two or three friends with them. The police interrogations began with the girl and will continue over the next few days.

The Torino police department has maintained silence on the matter, and the Elkann family itself prefers to keep quiet. No comment either from John, Lapo's older brother, who arrived at Mauriziano (hospital) at noon, nor from his mother, Margherita Agnelli, the daughter of Avvocato Agnelli. No press conference, much less television interviews. Lapo's father is outraged: "[Reporters from the show Porta a porta] called me up to ask me to come in to talk about the events on the broadcast. I'm ashamed to be Italian." Bruno Vespa replied that the request was "an act of courtesy that was misinterpreted." But the frostiness persists, along with the family's silence.

Lapo Elkann, a noted personality in mundane chronicles, has been responsible for [Fiat's] Lingotto brands for three years. He's the one who put sweatshirts and shoes with the Fiat label into production, maintaining that it was the right way to demonstrate pride in the family business. Lapo also oversaw the advertising image of the new Punto.

[Full Article]

* Avvocato literally means "lawyer" or "counsellor." Here it refers to the head honcho of FIAT, the Italian motor company based in Torino (Turin). FIAT stands for "Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino"

**The following account of events, printed in the Italian journal Corriere Della Serra (http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2005/10_Ottobre/11/lapo.shtml), provides more detail:

"The reconstruction: Investigators have determined that the young manager arrived around 11 o'clock Sunday night at the small, ground-floor apartment of "Lino B.," a transsexual fifty-something from [the Italian region of] Puglia, also known by the name of Patrizia. Two others, an Italian and a Brazilian — also transsexual — arrived later that night. The three were found by the police, who interrogated them at length yesterday. They denied using controlled substances, maintaining that Lapo Elkann brought them and that he would have been the only one who took them while he was there. Then, left alone with Lapo, Lino B. fell asleep. When he woke up a little before 9 a.m., he noticed that the Avvocato [Agnelli]'s grandson was groaning and grumbling and immediately called 118. [Lapo] was taken to the Mauriziano hospital in an ambulance, where he's still in the resuscitation department. As soon as he's in a condition to answer questions, the scion of the Torinese house [Agnelli] will be interrogated by the investigating authorities, who want to get a grip on the events in which he was involved."

--Translated By Chris Drake

Go to original article:

http://www.repubblica.it/2005/j/sezioni/cronaca/elkann/elkann/elkann.html