The share capital was held by the private bank Francesco Ferrazzini, Lugano, which in 1969 was taken over by the Finter Bank, Zurich . One of the first board member was Dr. Waldo Riva (1905 - 1987) from Lugano, a lawyer, politician and army officer. He was from 1943 until 1947 and 1951 in the federal assembly. In November 1949 he was replaced by Dr. Luigi Fontana. One year later Guido Ferrazzini, the brother of Francesco Ferrazzini was elected a board member.

The mastermind behind the venture was most probably Dr. Agostino Nizzola (1869 - 1961) from Lugano, an uncle of Francesco Ferrazzini. He was an electrical engineer and a member of the top management of BBC Brown Boveri, Motor-Columbus and of various electricity generating companies.

The San Giorgio SA di Navigazione, Chur only owned the two old cargo steamers GENEROSO from 20.05.1949 - 12.12.1952 and the SAN SALVATORE from 30.10.1950 - 27.01.1953, both sailing under Swiss flag. The management of the vessels was carried out by the owners through their operating office San Giorgio S.A. di Navigazione, Via Ariosto 1, Lugano. The Swiss Government pushed the owners to operate and control the vessels from Switzerland. Therefore they asked the Italian ship owner Dr. Sebastiano Tuillier (1910 - 1982) from Venice and Genoa to move to Switzerland and supervise the operation of the ships, however without having any authority to sign on behalf of the company, nor to be a board member. Therefore we assume, they formed an office partnership, with Mr. Tuillier looking after his own ships and consulting on behalf of San Giorgio S.A. Today we may wonder, that Mr. Tuillier moved under these unfavourable conditions to Lugano, but considering the confused political conditions after the World War II in Italy this becomes understandable.

The company tried through the political channels in the federal Government in Berne to obtain permission from the Italian Government to run a coastal service along the coast of Italy. However this request was always turned down by the Italians, as apparently their own, Italian flagged ships were not fully occupied.

We do not know for certain, but it appears that the refusal of the proposed costal service brought the company to an early end. The GENEROSO was sold in 1952 to an owner in Genoa and was changed to Italian flag, but retained her name and remained under the management of Mr. Tuillier until 1961, when eventually she was scrapped in Italy. The SAN SALVATORE was already sold for demolition in 1953.

After the San Giorgio S.A. di Navigazione closed down in 1953, Dr. Sebastiano Tuillier remained in Lugano until his death. For many years he operated his own ships from the same office at the Via Ariosto 1, Lugano, before moving to other offices. Around 1977 he became a Swiss citizen.

SwissShips, HPS, March 2014

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