Italy pays respects to Agnelli

" He was the most famous Italian in the world "
Mirko Tremaglia
Italian minister for expatriates

Women in furs and assembly-line workers, racing drivers and footballers, queued at the art gallery on the site of Fiat's famous Lingotto factory to say farewell to the legendary businessman who died on Friday aged 81.

Some spent three hours in the line to see a man associated with such icons of Italian life as Ferrari and the Juventus Football Club.

"He was an exceptional person," said Roberto Martinengo, a 43-year-old hospital worker who stood in line on crutches on the factory roof.

"He gave thousands of people jobs, allowed them to put food on the table."

" Gianni Agnelli's life had all the trappings of an entertaining, if slightly implausible, airport thriller "

Police said they would keep the museum, which was presented as a gift to the city by the Agnelli family only last year, open all night if necessary ahead of the funeral on Sunday.

The family of Gianni Agnelli stood at the coffin to greet the mourners who touched the casket or crossed themselves as they passed.

Among them were Agnelli's younger brother Umberto and his grandson John Elkann, tipped as leading lights of the surviving dynasty.

The mourners included:

• Champion Ferrari Formula One driver Michael Schumacher and Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo, who looked visibly moved.

• The whole of Juventus FC

• European Commission President Romano Prodi

• Former Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro and Italian leftist opposition leaders Francesco Rutelli and Piero Fassino

National figure

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and current President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi are both due to attend Agnelli's requiem mass at Turin cathedral on Sunday, which will be followed by a private burial outside the city.

The country's minister for expatriate Italians, Mirko Tremaglia, has appealed to all Italians living aboard to observe a minute's silence on Sunday during the funeral service.

"He was a man who had real veneration for his country, for work, and for sport," he said.

" Agnelli's patriarch status was viewed as a handicap to debt-laden Fiat's future "

"He was the most famous Italian in the world."

The chairman of Fiat, Paolo Fresco, told reporters on Sunday that the death of Gianni Agnelli would change nothing at the century-old company, which has been in financial difficulties.

"I think that the best way to honour his memory is to make every effort to overcome the current difficulties and have a stronger Fiat which can succeed," he said.