The revolutionary banker: Enrico Cernuschi, subject of a new episode of Mediobanca’s “Subtle communities” podcast
A new episode of “Subtle communities”, the podcast that tells the stories of bankers who have made history, has been released, on Enrico Cernuschi, one of the leading figures of the Italian Risorgimento, who was also to become one of the founding fathers of the BNP Paribas group. “The revolutionary banker” is the sixth figure to feature in the podcast developed by Mediobanca in conjunction with Chora Media and the Fondazione Corriere della Sera, narrated by Ferruccio de Bortoli.
Around a hundred years before the stories of Enrico Cuccia, Alberto Beneduce, Donato Menichella and Amadeo Peter Giannini, Enrico Cernuschi is one of the Italian bankers who played a crucial role in the establishment of some of the leading international banking groups.
Cernuschi was an eclectic banker who was an outsider from the days of his youth: one of the leaders in the “Five Days” uprising in Milan, he played an important role in the government of the insurrectionists. When he later moved to France, Henri Cernuschi reinvented himself as a teacher of Italian, entrepreneur and economist, eventually becoming one of the most influential bankers of his time. After climbing the ranks of Crédit Mobilier (founded by Napoleon), he become one of the founders of Banque de Paris, which is now BNP Paribas. Democratic ideals would continue to inspire Enrico Cernuschi throughout his life, combining vision and intuition in the field of economics with a passion for culture and political and social commitment, effectively laying the foundations for the road to be followed by the great bankers of the twentieth century.
The sixth episode of the “Subtle communities” podcast will be presented on Friday, 21 February 2025, at a dedicated event as part of the Chora Festival – volume 2, with the following participants: Francesca Berardi (author, Chora Media), Angelo Crespi (Director, Pinacoteca di Brera), and Elena Bacchin (Professor of History, University of Vienna), and moderator: Mario Calabresi, CEO of Chora Media.
The podcast series, which is based on materials held in the Mediobanca Historical Archive, is available through all leading podcast platforms.
Milan, 21 February 2025
Credits
Subtle communities is a Mediobanca podcast developed in conjunction with Chora Media and Fondazione Corriere della Sera. Written and presented by Ferruccio de Bortoli, with editorial support from Francesca Berardi and Ivan Carozzi. Matilde Quarti is the producer.
Sound engineers in the studio are Luca Possi, Aurora Ricci, Filippo Mainardi, and Francesco Ferrari from Frigo Studio, and Andrea Rucci and Alessandro Boriani from Novenove Studio. Francesca Berardi is also utility sound technician. Post-production and editing is by Cosma Castellucci, Andrea Girelli, Emanuele Moscatelli and Guido Bertolotti. Luca Micheli is responsible for sound and music supervsion. Senior producer is Anna Nenna. Sara Poma is Chief Editor.