A Tribute to Matteo Troni

Matteo Troni was bi-lingual, bi-cultural and fine company. He was a trusted legal adviser to my team's investments in Italy for over a decade. However, it was a day I spent with him in Milan after that professional period which made a lasting difference to me. In Spring 2016, he invited me for coffee at Il Giardino outside the stylish Bulgari Hotel. He wanted to share a slice of high end Milan life. It was a glorious May morning and the garden was a peaceful oasis in busy Milan.

That day, as we were both able to savour the Gift of Time, we talked for hours and hours. He explained how his serious cancer had changed his life and how he was now seizing every day and savouring small things. Matteo sipped lemon water and recounted insider stories of the converted building and the well-dressed beautiful people around us with their poodles in designer pink waistcoats and their yellow Ferraris.

Afterwards, putting on his (impossibly stylish) Italian flag helmet, he gave me a ride on the back of his Vespa. Bouncing over cobbled stones, he generously shared insights on hidden Milan. His multicultural eye gave me fresh perspectives on the built environment. Matteo could turn an English phrase too… “the architecture of the Mussolini era was, arguably, the last era of solid Italian buildings”. On that day in May, his courage and his calm advice helped inspire me to embrace a creative Time Out in my professional life.

It was simply energising to spend a day with someone who was plainly ‘seizing the day’. Matteo was, of course, witty, good-looking and stylish but on the inside, he was beautiful too. Now he has passed on but he will leave a mark in my world. Rest in Peace Matteo and my thanks for seizing that day in Milan.