Alex Mapelli-Mozzi

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Count
Alex Mapelli-Mozzi
Conte Mapelli Mozzi coat of arms.png
Personal information
Full nameAlessandro Mapelli Mozzi
Nationality Italian/British
Born (1951-05-07) 7 May 1951 (age 74)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Home town Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy
Alma mater Downside School
Spouse(s)Nicola Diana Burrows (m. 1978)
Margaretha Ankarcrona née von Eckermann (m. 1988)
Fiona Wilson (m. 1994)
Children2
Relative(s)Count Luigi Mapelli Mozzi (gf)
Princess Beatrice (d-i-l)
Lady Lucinda Ankarcrona (sd-i-l)
Other interests the Arts
Sport
Country GB
Sport Alpine skiing
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals Sapporo 1972

Count Alessandro "Alex" Mapelli Mozzi (born 7 May 1951), is an aristocratic Anglo-Italian former Alpine skier for the Great Britain Olympic team. [1]

Contents

Since 2020, Mapelli-Mozzi is the father-in-law of Princess Beatrice. [2]

Life and background

Villa Mapelli Mozzi, the ancestral seat at Ponte San Pietro in Lombardy, Italy Mapellipozzi2.JPG
Villa Mapelli Mozzi, the ancestral seat at Ponte San Pietro in Lombardy, Italy

Early life and career

Born at Buenos Aires in 1951, the only son of Giampaolo Mapelli Mozzi (1922–1980) by his Swiss wife, Gigliola née Stoppani (1926–2003), [3] [4] [5] he grew up at the ancestral seat, Villa Mapelli Mozzi in Sottoriva near Ponte San Pietro, [6] [7] where his family's works of art are housed. [8] [9] Another family residence at Casatenovo, between Bergamo and Lake Como also Villa Mapelli Mozzi, was built in the 15th century as a monastery and is now a luxury hotel. [10]

From May 1965 to July 1969, Mapelli-Mozzi attended Downside School as a boarder, [11] becoming a notable sportsman and excelled in alpine pursuits. [12] A dual British and Italian citizen, [13] he represented Great Britain in three downhill skiing events at the Sapporo 1972 Winter Olympics. [14]

Mixing in upper-class social circles and a member of the Ski Club of Great Britain, Mapelli-Mozzi later became an international art dealer and curator, [15] and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

Ancestry and title

Of ancient descent from Alberto de Mapello, a City Councilman of Bergamo, son of Oberto de Mapello, who fought in defence of the Lombard League in 1168 against Emperor Frederick I, [16] the Mapelli Mozzi name came about from the marriage in 1808 of Girolamo Mapelli (1785–1842) with Angela Mozzi (1790–1851), granddaughter of Count Enrico Mozzi (1733–1800), great-niece of Fr Luigi Mozzi and eventual heiress to the Villa Mozzi estate. Their son married Ippolita Giulini di Vialba (1827–1887) becoming jure uxoris Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi (1815–1879), the father of Paolo Mapelli Mozzi (cr. Count Mapelli) whose wife was Enrica Tarsis (1866–1941), brother of Giampaolo Tarsis, I Conte di Castel d'Agogna (cr. 1927).

His grandfather Luigi Mapelli Mozzi (1894–1948) married María Mercedes née Baroli (1891–1979), [17] dividing their time between homes in Lombardy and the Côte d'Azur. His great-aunt Carmela Mapelli Mozzi (1895–1947) married in 1920, Uberto Resta-Pallavicino, II Marchese Pallavicino (cr. 1910). [18]

Luigi Mapelli Mozzi was the second son of Paolo Mapelli Mozzi (1854–1921), elevated as Count Mapelli by King Victor Emmanuel III upon the recommendation of Ottorino Gentiloni. Created by Letters Patent in 1913 as a hereditary Count of the Kingdom of Italy with remainder to all his male descendants, Mozzi was granted as an additional surname to the title by Regio Decreto in 1935, becoming formally styled as Count Mapelli Mozzi. [19]

Italian noble titles, as with most European nobility, may continue to be used nowadays by social courtesy, [20] their legal standing in Italy having ceased in 1948 [21] and having no formal recognition in the United Kingdom. [22]

Family

Margaretha von Eckermann's family arms Ekerman 6-158.jpg
Margaretha von Eckermann's family arms

Mapelli-Mozzi married firstly on 8 March 1978 Nicola "Nikki" Burrows, [23] younger daughter of (Robert) David Burrows (1929–1993) and paternal granddaughter of Sir Robert Burrows [24] by his wife Eleanor, [25] great-granddaughter of Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge. [26] [27] [28] [23] [29] They have a daughter [30] and a son, Edo (born 1983), husband of Princess Beatrice. [31]

Mapelli-Mozzi married secondly in 1988 Margaretha née von Eckermann, [32] formerly wife of Jan Ankarcrona [33] and a descendant of Western Pomeranian Swedish nobility. [34] He married thirdly, in 1994, horse breeder Fiona Wilson. [35]

Thrice divorced, Mapelli-Mozzi now lives in Provence, France. [30]

See also

References

  1. ↑ www.olympics.com
  2. ↑ "Princess Beatrice marries Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in private Windsor ceremony". BBC News. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020. Mr Mapelli Mozzi [married to Princess Beatrice] is the son of former Olympic skier Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi and Nikki Williams-Ellis and is a Count himself.
  3. ↑ www.devotohistoria.com.ar
  4. ↑ "Conte Alex Mapelli Mozzi: Genealogics".
  5. ↑ "Gigliola Stoppani (1926–2003)". ancestors.familysearch.org. Retrieved 28 June 2025.
  6. ↑ Ceresoli, Laura (7 May 2019). "The dream villa in Ponte San Pietro". BergamoPost. Retrieved 29 September 2019. The Villa is privately owned and is still partly inhabited". Sergio Limonta, culturale di PromoIsola Limonta, also confirmed: "It is the residence of private individuals who do not accept sightseeing. I [once] took some schoolchildren to visit with the consent of the kind and aristocratic Mrs. Legler, resident at the property, unfortunately now deceased and therefore the visits for the masses have ceased. Her husband was a Mapelli, the latest descendants....
  7. ↑ Fontaine, Nicolas (2019). Origins of the Mapelli Mozzi family: the noble ancestors and title of Count Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Histoires Royales. Retrieved 29 September 2019. (N.B. French to English translation) By Italian Royal Decree of March 13, 1913, the King of Italy granted the Mapelli family a hereditary title. The male descendants all bear the title of "Conte"... Letters Patent later added the name Mozzi to the title... Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi is therefore Count, like his father, and his grandfather... and as with his son, Count Christopher Woolf Mapelli Mozzi. However, since the abolition of the monarchy (in 1946), titles of nobility no longer have legal standing in Italy. The United Kingdom, likewise, does not recognize these titles of nobility either... As we have seen, the Mapelli Mozzi family belongs to a very old Lombard family, which still owns the sumptuous Villa Mapelli Mozzi located in Casatenovo, between Bergamo and Lake Como. The Mozzi family also owns Villa Mapelli Mozzi in Ponte San Pietro, built in 1770 by Count Enrico Mozzi. Count Edoardo descends from the families of Tarsis as well as Baroli. The great-grandfather of Edoardo, Count Luigi Mapelli Mozzi, a Knight of the Crown of Italy, married in 1919, Nobile Maria Mercedes Baroli, a descendant of the noble family of Baroli...
  8. ↑ Art de France, Issue 1. University of California. 1961. Retrieved 29 September 2019– via Google Books. Ces décorations d'Ancy elles mêmes sont proches de « la Vénus et les Amours » (Collection Mapelli Mozzi, Ponte San Pietro).
  9. ↑ Turner, Jane (2000). Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Art. Grove's Dictionaries. ISBN   1884446043 . Retrieved 1 October 2019– via Google Books. Carlotta Mapelli Mozzi: El traje indigena en Mexico, 2 vols (Mexico City, 1964, 2/1968) C. ... The first collectors of Mexican art were the Conquistadors themselves, led by Hernán Cortés...
  10. ↑ www.villamapellimozzi.it
  11. ↑ The Raven, volume LXI no. 247, page 56. 1969. Downside School.
  12. ↑ www.downhillonly.com
  13. ↑ "Un nuovo Royal Wedding: Beatrice di York sposa l'italiano Edoardo Mapelli-Mozzi". La Repubblica (in Italian). 21 August 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  14. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alex Mapelli-Mozzi Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2018.
  15. ↑ "South African Digest". South African Digest. Department of Information, South Africa. 1980. p. 4. Retrieved 29 September 2018– via Google Books. Count Alex Mapelli Mozzi (left), the curator of the 143 drinking glasses (photographed) with Mr Jimmy Kruger President of the Senate
    - Denise Jordaan (1980). "The Pageant of the Past". To the Point News in Depth. Vol. 9, no. 36–52. African International Publishing Company. Retrieved 1 October 2019– via Google Books. Count Alex Mapelli Mozzi who is responsible for bringing the magnificent collection of antique glass drinking vessels, valued at millions of rands, to South Africa, would not disclose the insured value of the collection, as, with lifted eyebrows he said: "Lloyd's of London would not.....
  16. ↑ "Mapelli - EFL - Società Storica Lombarda".
  17. ↑ Libro d'Oro della Nobilta Italiana, M–Z (22 vol. XXVI ed.). Rome: Collegio araldico. 2000–2004. pp. 44–45. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  18. ↑ www.senato.it
  19. ↑ Libro d'Oro della Nobilta Italiana, M-Z (22 vol. XXVI ed.). Rome: Collegio araldico. 2000–2004. pp. 44–45. Retrieved 1 October 2019. [Translated from Italian to English] – The title of Conte [Co.] was created in 1913 in the Kingdom of Italy by King Vittorio Emmanuele III to all male descendants bearing the surname and arms of Mozzi combined with the family of Mapelli ... *Mozzi (Mapelli-Mozzi) ... Co. Alessandro, n. 17 luglio 1951 sp. 18 marzo 1978 Niky Burrows da cui: (a) Natalia, n. a Londra 28 agosto 1981; (b) Co. Edoardo, n. a Londra 19 novembre 1983
  20. ↑ "Titles (foreign)" (PDF). UK Government.
    - Kretschmer, Anna (4 October 2019). "Princess Beatrice revelation: heartbreaking reason why Edo cannot take aristocratic title". Daily Express. Retrieved 15 October 2019. They [Italian titles] may still be used by courtesy, but have no legal standing.
    - "Princess Beatrice marries Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in private Windsor ceremony". BBC News. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020. the son of former Olympic skier Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi and Nikki Williams-Ellis and is a Count himself.
  21. ↑ "Constitution of the Italian Republic, Transitional and Final Provisions, XIV (page 42)" (PDF).
  22. ↑ "Royal Warrant on Foreign Titles dated April 27, 1932".
  23. 1 2 "Count Alex Mapelli Mozzi". Country Life . Vol. 163. TI Media. 1978. p. 507. daughter of Mr David Burrows, of Pincent's Farm, Theale, Berkshire, and of Mrs Susan Burrows, of 2 Walton Street, London, SW3, is to be married to Count Alex Mapelli Mozzi, only son of Count Giampaolo Mapelli Mozzi, of Sottoriva, Ponte San Pietro....
  24. ↑ "Sir Robert Abraham Burrows (1884–1964)". National Portrait Gallery, London . Retrieved 21 July 2020. Sir Robert Burrows KBE was the father of (Robert) David Burrows whose daughter Nicola Diana Burrows (b. 1956) was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (M.B.E.) in 2016.
  25. ↑ "Eleanor, Lady Burrows (née Bainbridge) - National Portrait Gallery".
  26. ↑ www.johnlewismemorystore.org.uk
  27. ↑ Davies, Alan (2014). Locomotives of the Lancashire Central Coalfield: The Walkden Yard Connection. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN   9781445635040 . Retrieved 20 July 2020. (p viii)... The Duke of York occasionally staying with him [Burrows] at Bonis Hall in Prestbury, Cheshire
  28. ↑ Ball, Elliot (21 September 2021). "Who is Princess Beatrice's husband? The story behind Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi". Plymouth Herald . Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  29. ↑ Young, Sarah (26 September 2019). "Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi: Who is Princess Beatrice's fiancé?" . The Independent. Archived from the original on 26 September 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
    - Libro d'Oro della Nobilita Italiana. 2000–2004. p. 44.
  30. 1 2 "Announcements 2012". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 March 2019. The engagement is announced between Tod, son of Mr and Mrs Michael Yeomans, of Winchester, Hampshire, and Natalia, stepdaughter of the late Mr Christopher Shale and daughter of Mrs Christopher Shale, of Over Worton, Oxfordshire and Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, of La Garde Freinet, France.
  31. ↑ Libro d'Oro della Nobilta Italiana. 2000–2004. pp. 44–45. Retrieved 1 October 2019. Mapelli (Mapelli-Mozzi)...(a) Natalia, n. a Londra 28 agosto 1981; (b) Co. Edoardo, n. a Londra 19 novembre 1983;...
    - "Princess Beatrice marries Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in private Windsor ceremony". BBC News. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  32. ↑ "Margaretha von Eckermann: Genealogics".
  33. ↑ www.burkespeerage.com
  34. ↑ "Von Eckermann Family - Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon".
  35. ↑ "As Princess Beatrice welcomes new baby Athena Elizabeth – who are the youngest royal's paternal grandparents?". 20 July 2020.
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