Tuesday September 17th last, Mr Aldo Doglioni Majer, founder and president of Rhea Vendors Group, passed away in his Milan home. He was buried on Saturday September 21st in the family shrine in Belluno, the mountain town where he was born on October 8th, 1920, and that he left in 1946, on the aftermath of World War II, to establish himself in Milan, and lead a long and extremely successful life.
Initially involved in the restructuring of the foundries of his wife, Giuliana Rinaldi (married 1949), he came in contact with vending during an extensive journey in the USA in 1955. After a couple of years in which he imported vending machines from the US and the UK, in 1957 he manufactured a first dispenser for gumballs, which has since become a Space Age icon.
In 1960, Rhea Vendors S.r.l. was born. From then, it is difficult to keep the record of an activity that brought Rheavendors to be one of the most respected brands in the world of vending and HO.RE.CA. Connected by family and friendship ties to the earliest exponents of Italian Design, he was a characteristic figure of what came to be known as the Italian Boom.
In his private life, Aldo Doglioni Majer was a man who liked both physical and mental challenge. An Alpine climber and cross-country skier in his youth, he prized contact with Nature and biodiversity above all. Also, as an airplane pilot, he was constantly on the move. He spoke German, English, French and Spanish and felt at home in several parts of the world. The places closest to his heart were the Dolomites, his hunting lodge in Piedmont and the island of Lanzarote, in the Canary Archipelago, which he discovered in the 1960’s.
To the end of his days, he was a staunch supporter of the idea of one single nation for all Europe, after having witnessed the tragedies of war and the rebirth of Europe from its ashes in the 1950’s. For this reason he was a powerful force behind the creation of all the associations of vending, from Italian CONFIDA to European EVMMA and EVA.
He leaves three sons: Carlo, born 1955; Luca, born 1959, and Andrea, born 1967. After his demise, Carlo Doglioni Majer has become President and CEO of Rhea Vendors Group.
The Doglioni Majer family wish to express their gratitude to Mrs Jennifer Fernando Lintotage and doctors Frye, Mynderse, Letendre and Mansel and all the personnel of Mayo clinic, Rochester MN (U.S.A.)
