Tommaso Ponzi, better known as Tom Ponzi, was born on September 25,1921 in Pola, and died on May 9, 1997 in Busto Arsizio. He was synonymous with investigations and he is still the embodiment of the detective. But he was not just a private detective: he was an important personality, an actor, a sportsman, a publisher and above all Tom Ponzi was a hero.
Why a hero? Because he burst into a primary school in Terrazzano in 1956, where two crooks called Egidio and Arturo Santato had kidnapped almost 100 pupils and 3 teachers. Tom Ponzi and Sante Zennaro got into the building and managed to disarm the criminals. Unfortunately, the event ended with the accidental death of Sante Zennaro who was killed by mistake. He was honoured with the Gold Medal while Tom Ponzi received no recognition.
Tom was also an actor, he played the second lead in the RAI series, I giovedì della signora Giulia, in 1970, as detective Sciancalepre. The plot was inspired by the homonymous novel by Piero Chiara, and the show was shot under the direction of Paolo Nuzzi and Massimo Scaglione with stars like Claudio Gora, Hélène Rémy, Martine Brochard and Umberto Ceriani.
Tom Ponzi even helped towards the success of Bruno Cassa, the waterskier who set a new record on the Pola-Cervia stage in August 1968. Tom pulled the champion behind his speedboat Riva Aquarama, reaching the maximum speed and obtaining a remarkable performance at the time. His valuable contribution was relevant and recognized internationally.
Synonymous with investigations, Tom Ponzi joined the international jet set through the distinguished people he worked for: Enzo Ferrari, the Aga Khan, Walter Chiari, Gino Bramieri, Xavier Cugat, the House of Savoy and the Agnelli family are just a few names of the celebrities with whom he worked. Joining that world was both a privilege and a responsibility which Tom never avoided.
It is very important to underline the fact that Tom Ponzi loved cooperating with his colleagues and friends, the detectives. He was such an admirer that he officially published a list of all the main detectives of the world.