30.05.2004 After thousands had EARLIER flocked to pay their respects, Umberto Agnelli was laid to rest yesterday after a private funeral at the family's home village

The funeral of Umberto Agnelli, the Fiat Group Chairman who died of cancer on Thursday evening at the family home in Mandria near Turin, was held yesterday.

He was laid to rest at Villa Persosa, in the Agnelli family's home village, in a private tomb next to his brother and son.

Unlike the state funeral last year for older brother Gianni, and attended by thousands, Umberto, befitting his much more low key approach, was buried after a funeral attended by family and close friends.

All day yesterday thousands lined up to pay their respects at his coffin which was laid out in Fiat's Turin Museum. Surrounded by historic cars and banners from the Juventus Football Club, his other passion, where he became Chairman at the age of just 22, he evoked strong feelings from the mourners.

"All I can wish for his family, for the firm and for Turin is that his choices continue to bear fruit so that Fiat really takes back its place in the hearts of Italians, an industrial leader that stands for us in Italy and abroad," commented Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Gianni's two grandchildren John and Lapo Elkan, both now heavily immersed in the family business, shook hands with mourners as organ music played in the background.

Umberto, who was previously always seen to be in the shadow of Gianni, came into his own after his more charismatic brother's death fifteen months ago, finally taking over the mantle of Fiat Group Chairman and embarking on a radical restructuring program.

He brought in former Pirelli boss Guiseppe Morchio as group CEO, and "the other Agnelli" as he was often known, is widely credited with being instrumental in getting the industrial conglomerate back on track, a turnaround evidenced by first quarter operating losses which more than halved. Umberto is credited with swinging the family behind the ambitious capital restructuring plan, a sign of faith in the car division, than made it easier to bring other shareholders on board.

"Umberto Agnelli called me in a very difficult moment for Fiat," Morchio commented on Friday. "We worked very hard in these fifteen months and from the very first days I was struck by his deep love for Fiat, his sense of duty, responsibility and spirit of service," he concluded.

His death is the latest tragedy to befall the Agnelli clan, Italy's most powerful family, often likened to the Kennedy's in America. "The destiny of the Agnelli family is tragic," Renault Executive Vice President Georges Douin said after hearing of Umberto's death, "It is reminiscent of the Kennedys." Umberto's father Edoardo died in a plane crash when he was just one year old and his mother in a car accident three years later.

It ends an era of Agnelli family domination at Fiat and leaves a huge generational gap. Umberto's son Giovannino, the heir apparent, died of cancer in 1997, while three years later Gianni's son, Eduardo, died in tragic circumstances.

Gianni's two grandchildren, John and Lapo Elkann, while seen at present as too young to take over the job of steering the industrial giant's fortunes, are both involved in the family business, John is a board member, and both as seen as rising stars of the future.