Aurelio Peccei

Aurelio Peccei (; 4 July 1908 – 14 March 1984), was an Italian industrialist and philanthropist, who co-founded with Alexander King and first president of the Club of Rome, an organisation which, in 1972, produced the The Limits to Growth report. Early life Peccei was born on 4 July 1908 in Turin, the capital of the Piedmont region of Italy. He spent his youth there, eventually graduating from the University of Turin with a degree in economics in 1930. Soon thereafter he went to the Sorbonne with a scholarship and was awarded a free trip to the Soviet Union. His knowledge of other languages brought him to Fiat S.p.A. Although under continual suspicion as an anti-fascist in the early-1930s, in 1935 a successful mission for Fiat in China established his position in Fiat management. During World War II, Peccei joined the anti-fascist movement and the resistance, when he was a member of the "Giustizia e Libertà". He was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured. After 11 months in prison he was freed in January 1945.