Departures of note

Born in Milan on 17 February 1935, the son of an entrepreneur active in import-export with the Far East, Larini spent part of his childhood in Calcutta before returning to Milan to study architecture at the Politecnico. A brilliant and unconventional figure in Milanese high society, he became a close friend of socialist leader Bettino Craxi, frequenting his home and the party's inner circles, and was later dubbed "il postino di Craxi" (Craxi's postman) for his role in moving money and connecting the leader's milieu. During the years of socialist power he moved among entrepreneurs, financial companies and political circles, serving as chief executive of Lombardia Risorse and maintaining ties with the Milanese planning body PIM, around which economic interests and public contracts gravitated; he was also a majority shareholder of the Borsalino hat company. He was among the first to be caught up in the Mani Pulite investigation in 1992, and in February 1993 surrendered to prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro. As holder of the UBS "conto protezione" account in Switzerland, his testimony helped bring down figures including minister Claudio Martelli and contributed to multiple convictions of influential politicians; he was himself convicted over the account, with his sentence largely remitted on appeal. After Tangentopoli he devoted himself to painting, a passion from his youth, and died at the age of 91.