Franco Bompieri met Enrico Cuccia in 1951 at the Continental Hotel where he was hired as a worker; when in 1960 he moved to Antica Barbieria Colla, many of his customers followed him, including the well-known banker. Here’s how he remembers him:
Text taken from Presi per i capelli by Franco Bompieri (Mondadori 2000)
« “He has spoken! Enrico Cuccia has spoken”. In the shop we couldn’t hold back the amazement. For years we had witnessed his ritual arrival: a barely hinted “Good morning” with a lowered gaze, a detached availability to the barber’s tools, an expert look at the newspaper, not at those available from us but at His one, inevitably foreigner, mostly the Financial Times.
Despite the routine, we always worked with him with a certain apprehension, as it was the first time. The shop, regardless of the number of other possible customers, was silent: if anyone spoke it was a whisper. After the service, Enrico Cuccia approached the register, paid, hinted a “Thank you” and a “Good morning”, he went out and alone, his arms crossed behind his back, walked towards Via Filodrammatici, now better known as the street of Mediobanca.
But on that hot summer morning, the order was upset: at a certain moment, Enrico Cuccia pointed to the air conditioner placed near the ceiling and said: “It’s a little cold today”».
![http://Credits: Archivio storico Mediobanca “Vincenzo Maranghi” – ICAR, Direzione Generale degli Archivi – MIBACT via <a href=”https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enrico_Cuccia_nella_sala_del_Consiglio_di_amministrazione_san_dl_SAN_IMG-00774647.jpg” title=”Enrico Cuccia su Wikimedia” rel=”nofollow”>Wikimedia Commons</a>](http://Credits: Archivio storico Mediobanca "Vincenzo Maranghi" - ICAR, Direzione Generale degli Archivi – MIBACT via <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Enrico_Cuccia_nella_sala_del_Consiglio_di_amministrazione_san_dl_SAN_IMG-00774647.jpg" title="Enrico Cuccia su Wikimedia" rel="nofollow">Wikimedia Commons</a>){kind=link}