MILAN, Italy (BRAIN) — Fulvio Acquati, the managing director of Deda Elementi for the last 18 years, has died after a short illness.
According to a friend, Acquati had a heart attack on June 19 and was taken to the hospital alive but unresponsive. He fell into a coma on June 23 and died Wednesday at the hospital.
Acquati was well known in the worldwide bike industry and was a friendly face at trade shows from Taiwan to Las Vegas. He often visited Deda's U.S. distributors including QBP and attended QBP's Frostbike winter event.
Prior to joining Deda, he worked for Cinelli/3T, Bianchi and Campagnolo.
"He knew everyone, and everyone knew him, and there was no one like him," said Ted Costantino, a longtime friend and publisher at VeloPress.
Acquati was born in 1961 in Monza, Italy, and lived most of his life in the apartment in which he grew up in northwest Milan. After graduating from university he served in the Italian navy and after his discharge he spent a few years sailing yachts between Italy and the Caribbean for wealthy clients.
He then got a job near Milan selling industrial goods and shortly thereafter joined Cinelli.
He's survived by his wife, Chiara Arca Acquati, his two sons, Giulio and Pietro, his mother, Bruna Fornaser Acquati, and his sister, Lisetta.
Deda posted a note about Acquati on its Facebook page. Translated from Italian, it read in part:
"Tonight the family cries for a great professional, a man, a colleague and a friend.
We are all close to Chiara, Giulio and Pietro on this sad day.
Thank you for this long trip together.It was a fantastic adventure."
Watch for more on Acquati's life in the next print issue of BRAIN.
