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A. de Lahausse (France) 1904-1905
Treasurer of the Motocycle-Club de France - organiser of the International Cup in Dourdan in 1904, he was one of the French representatives at the first foundation meeting of the Fédération Internationale des Clubs Motocyclistes on 21 December 1904, during which he was elected President of the Federation for one year.
Marquis de Mouzilly St Mars (France) 1905-1906
French, the Marquis de Mouzilly St Mars was elected member of the British Auto-Cycle Club on 7 July 1905, just after the second International Cup held in Dourdan on 25 June. At the second FICM Congress in Paris on 12 December, the Marquis was elected FICM President for 1906. He went to the International Cup in Patzau, Bohemia (then the Austro-Hungarian Empire), in July, and on the way back, he took part in a discussion about the creation of a race on the Isle of Man: the Tourist Trophy, inaugurated in July 1907, for which he provided the Trophy. The Marquis was elected Patron of the FICM at the Congress of re-activation in November 1912 “as a tribute for his work”.
The Honorable Arthur Stanley (Great-Britain) 1912-1924
Aged 19, Arthur Stanley followed his father, appointed General Governor of Canada from 1888 to 1893. There he played ice hockey. Back in England, he became a member of the Conservative Party, and he was an MP from 1898 to 1918. He was ennobled in 1917 for service to his country. President of the Royal Automobile Club from 1905 to 1907 and from 1912 to 1936, Arthur Stanley chaired the meetings of the FICM re-activation in November 1912 in London. He was unanimously elected FICM President - he would be reelected until he resigned in December 1923. He came back to the FICM as treasurer in April 1929 following the death of Mr Sharp. He retired in 1935, and died in 1947.
Count Albert Bonacossa (Italy) 1924-1946
Count Albert Bonacossa took part for the first time in the FICM Congress in January 1921 in Brussels. He had been President of the Moto Club d’Italia since 1914 (he would resign in 1931). He was elected Vice-President in December at the Milan Congress. Two years later, in December 1923, he was unanimously elected FICM President. He also became a member of the Italian Olympic Committee in 1925 and would remain so until his death in 1953. He remained FICM President until the first after-War meeting in Geneva in June 1946, during which he announced that he would not represent himself. He died in 1953.
Augustin Pérouse (France) 1946-1947, 1951-1959
President of the Union Motocycliste de France (which would become the Fédération Française de Motocyclisme in 1945) from 1928 until 1965, Augustin Pérouse represented France within the International Sporting Committee (CSI) as from 1931. In June 1946, considering the situation less than one year after the end of the war, the FICM Bureau decided that all posts would be filled for one year only. Augustin Pérouse was elected for this period. In 1947, he stepped down in favour of Marcel Haecker, then succeeded him when the Swiss suddenly died in February 1951. He retired in 1959 after two reelections. He was also President of the International Sporting Committee of the FIA from 1946 to 1961.
Marcel Haecker (Switzerland) 1947-1951
President of the Union Motocycliste Suisse from 1930 until 1947, Marcel Haecker was elected FICM Vice-President in 1932. He played a fundamental role in June 1946 by welcoming the FICM delegates in Geneva and chairing the first post-War meetings. He was elected FICM President the following year, in 1947 at the San Remo Congress, then reelected in 1950. He unexpectedly passed away in February 1951 at the beginning of his second mandate.
Pieter Nortier (Netherlands) 1959-1965
Pieter Nortier took part in various Six Days events as a competitor. He went to a FICM Congress for the first time in 1928 as a Dutch delegate, and participated in the meetings of the International Sporting Committee (CSI) as from 1932. He was CSI President from 1947 until 1958. In 1959 he was elected President as successor to Mr Pérouse without adversary. He remained at the head of the FIM for two mandates, but he underwent political attacks during the last two years of his second mandate and ended up by resigning, not presenting himself at the 1965 elections.
Nicolas Rodil del Valle (Spain) 1965-1983
Member of the Spanish Federation (RFME) since 1942, Don Rodil was present at the June 1946 meeting in Geneva. He was then Secretary General of his Federation. He became a member of the International Sporting Committee in 1949, then FIM Vice-President in 1953. He was also President of the RFME as from 1951. He withdrew as Vice-President at the end of 1962 – but remained a CSI member - and prepared his campaign. In 1965, in a tumultuous election process, he was elected President against Count Lurani Cernuschi by 16 votes to 14. He would remain 18 years at the head of the FIM - the second longest mandate after Count Bonacossa – until 1983. He passed away in 2004.
Nicolas Schmit (Luxembourg) 1983-1989
President of the Federation of Luxembourg, Nicolas Schmit entered the FIM in 1966 and was elected treasurer in 1969. He would remain in this post until 1983 when he succeeded Don Rodil del Valle at the Benalmadena Congress. He remained in charge for two mandates, and retired in 1989 at the Maastricht Congress. He passed away in 2004, a few months before Don Rodil.
Jos Vaessen (Netherlands) 1989-1995
Secretary General of the Dutch Federation (KNMV), then Sporting Director, Jos Vaessen became a member of the FIM Track Racing Commission in 1979, then President of the Commission in 1987. He was elected FIM President in 1989 at the Maastricht Congress and reelected in 1992 in Columbus. Having lost the elections in 1995, he became CCP member again. He was later President of the TT Assen Foundation.
Francesco Zerbi (Italy) 1995-2006
Francesco Zerbi entered the FIM in 1977 as a member of the Tourism and Concentrations Commission. President of the Italian Federation (FMI) from 1979 until 1995, he was elected FIM Vice-President in 1982. From 1984 to 1994 he was FIM Deputy President. At the 1995 Congress in Karlstad, he was elected FIM President against Jos Vaessen by 66 votes to 63, then reelected twice, in 1998 and in 2002; he retired in 2006.
Vito Ippolito (Venezuela) 2006-
Vito Ippolito entered the FIM in 1984 as a member of the Road Racing Commission. That same year he became President of the Latino-American Motorcycling Union (ULM), until 1998. He was elected FIM Vice-President in 1990 and President of the Venezuelan Federation in 1992. He became Deputy President in 1997. He succeeded Francesco Zerbi to the FIM Presidency (against Jos Vaessen) at the 2006 Congress in Salvador, Brazil. He was reelected for a four-year mandate at the Congress in Macao in 2010.
By Marc Pétrier
Photos FIM Archives:
1. Arthur Stanley - 2. Albert Bonacossa - 3. Marcel Haecker - 4. Augustin Pérouse - 5. Pieter Nortier - 6. Nicolas Rodil del Valle - 7. Nicolas Schmit - 8. Jos Vaessen - 9. Francesco Zerbi - 10. Vito Ippolito
