Anna Majani, grande dame of fine chocolate, dead at 85
When Anna Majani stepped into her family’s factory in Bologna, Italy, to begin work among the cocoa toasters, marble tables and molds for chocolates eaten by kings and poets, nobody took her seriously.
It was 1954. She was a woman, she was all of 18 and she had already caused a scandal in town, becoming pregnant by a soccer player at 15.
But Majani stayed on, rose to vice president and became the company’s creative heart, earning widespread credit for turning her family’s chocolates into design objects and for imbuing the brand with her charisma.
Majani died Feb. 28 at a hospital in Bologna. She was 85.
The cause was COVID-19, her son, Francesco Mezzadri Majani, said. In addition to him, she is survived by three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Anna Majani was born in Bologna on Feb. 4, 1936. Her mother, Luisa Cavedoni, was a homemaker; her father, Francesco Majani, was the owner of the chocolate company founded by his ancestors in 1796, according to the company’s official history, which calls Majani Italy’s first chocolate-making concern.
It soon became the official supplier for Italy’s Savoy kings. Majani was also known for its Fiat cremino, a four-layer almond and hazelnut chocolate created in 1911 in partnership with the Italian carmaker for the launch of a new model. Fiat’s president, Gianni Agnelli, once told Anna Majani that her company sold more Fiat chocolates than he sold cars.
Other chocolate makers emerged and thrived in Italy in the following decades, including Venchi and Ferrero, famous for its Nutella spread — but Majani, although smaller, is among the few that still start production with raw cocoa beans instead of buying already-made
chocolate from third parties.
The business declined under Anna Majani’s father, who seemed more interested in good food, women and hunting dogs. By 1985, when she took control,
the family had sold most of its shares.
Anna Majani mortgaged her house to reclaim ownership, and together with her son — whom she referred to as a
“brother” because they were so close in age — built it back. He took care of the finances, and she designed dozens of new shapes, textures and packages for their collections.