Gateway to history

The Eni Archive is headquartered in Pomezia: all the historical documents and papers belonging to Enrico Mattei and documentation relating to Eni as a company specializing in the research, production and marketing of petroleum products are stored here. It includes designs that illustrate the evolution of the Eni logo as well as minutes, press releases and speeches by Enrico Mattei both on paper and video. To understand the emergence of the oil industry in Italy and study the development of our business, we established an archive that encompasses our historical heritage as shown by documents, periodicals, photographs, audio-visual and even unpublished material from the private collection of Enrico Mattei. The archive is the culmination of a long process of research and selection of materials begun in 1993 when the Archival Superintendency of Lazio declared the establishment of an Eni archive to be of considerable historical interest.

Eni movies: Eni’s audio-visual archive

Bernardo Bertolucci, Gillo Pontecorvo and Folco Quilici are just some of the great directors who have told the story of Eni and the energy industry in original ways. In addition to the film material, the company’s Historical Archive also preserves a significant volume of audio-visual material. This ranges from commercials by Ettore Scola for the launch of Supercortemaggiore petrol – famous for the slogan “The six-legged dog, man’s best friend on four wheels” – to sound recordings of the speeches of Enrico Mattei, newsreels from the 1950s and recordings of the most recent shareholders’ meetings. Also included are feature-length films such as The Oil Men, which won the prize for best documentary at the VI National Exhibition of Industrial Film in Genoa (1965); Trasmed: un Gasdotto in Mare Profondo, which won the silver medal at the Mercurio Sansovino International Film Festival in Venice (1983); and Agip Dimensione Mare, which won first prize at the 25th International Festival of Documentary Film and Television in Milan (1985).

It was Enrico Mattei who, in the mid-1950s, decided that cinema was the ideal medium through which to tell the story of Eni’s activities – and set up an in-house film department. Its output has included: Italy is Not a Poor Country, by Dutchman Joris Yvens, with a commentary by writer Alberto Moravia; Portrait of a Big Company, by Giacomo Vaccari, with a script by Gian Gaspare Napoletano; and Gela Ancient and Modern, which featured Leonardo Sciascia among its authors. Nor did the close link with Italy’s culture industry stop with the end of Mattei’s chairmanship. The archive preserves on film records made by Agip technicians in the late 1950s in various regions of Africa and the Middle East. These document the lifestyles of local people, their habits and the characteristics of the territory. A collection of newsreels provides records of plant inaugurations, visits by Italian and foreign dignitaries, conferences and trade fairs. Everything is there, including television commercials starring well-known actors from film, theatre and TV, including Dario Fo and Franca Rame, Vittorio Gassman, Franca Valeri, Gabriele Ferzetti, Alberto Bonucci and Raffaella Carrà.

A photographic record of a company and a country

The photographic archive was established in February 2005, after having researched and implemented optimal conditions for the specific conservation of all types of material deposited at the Pomezia site. To date, it includes approximately 10,000 images, mainly related to Enrico Mattei, industrial infrastructure and service stations. Cataloguing of the material is achieved using the same software used all types of documents held by the Historical Archive and a special photo card, designed to international standards. Such photographic heritage is of considerable historical and artistic value in terms of both content and the professionals involved, among them: Federico Patellani, Mimmo Jodice, Aldo Ballo, Bruno Stefani, Marco Anelli, Studio Rotofoto, Studio Giacomelli and Publifoto.

Eni’s photographic archive contains:

• 500,000 photographic prints in both black and white and colour
• 200,000 slides
• 30,000 negatives

The collection covers an enormous range of formats and types and spans the whole of the last century. The splendid photographs of Egyptian oilfields taken during the second half of the 1950s by Federico Patellani not only illustrate the characteristics of the fields themselves, but provide testimony of the collaboration between Eni technicians and local workers. Similarly, pictures taken of the first Agip motels capture their sober architecture and furnishings – as well as the spirit of efficiency and courtesy, which was a real strength of the recently-created Agip distribution network.

Words and sounds: powerful storytelling

The Archive also includes approximately 100 sound recordings. You can find the speeches of Enrico Mattei and political figures recorded on the occasion of visits or inaugurations (on 78rpm vinyl); messages from family members of Eni personnel employed abroad (transmitted by radio in the 1950, thanks to an agreement with RAI); interviews with former Eni managers; and finally the most recent recordings of shareholders’ meetings.