Farewell to the Aga Khan, the prince who made Italians fall in love with sailing with Azzurra

Karim Aga Khan, the Ismaili prince, entrepreneur and philanthropist, founder of, among other things, the Costa Smeralda, the eponymous Yacht Club and, above all, promoter of the Italian challenge of “Azzurra” to the America’s Cup, passed away in Lisbon, Portugal, at the age of 88.

A spiritual leader, a philanthropist, a forward-thinking entrepreneur, as well as a passionate yachtsman with a very special connection to Italy. All this was Karim Aga Khan, the Ismaili prince who passed away Feb. 4 in Portugal at the age of 88. News of his passing was spread by the agency he founded, “Aga Khan Development Network,” which issued a brief statement, “His Highness Prince Karim al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, passed away peacefully in Lisbon, surrounded by his family.”

Leading a community of 12 million people, scattered mainly in India and Pakistan, Karim Aga Khan was the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shiite Ismaili Muslims and a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. The title “His Highness” had been bestowed on him by Queen Elizabeth of England in 1957. He had been born in Geneva in 1936 and for many years had lived in Nairobi and then trained in Switzerland at the prestigious Le Rosey Institute and then graduated from Harvard in 1959.

His “Emerald Coast” an unprecedented project

During his long imamate, the Aga Khan has expended a great deal of effort to improve the living conditions of Ismaili communities and other disadvantaged populations around the world, promoting initiatives in education, health, rural development and culture. His current economic empire is estimated at about $13 billion, one of the largest in the world.

An incredible and legendary life that of the Aga Khan crossed paths with Italy and Italians at some point. Indeed, his name is linked to the creation of what would become one of the cult places for world tourism, the Costa Smeralda. It was 1962, and those 1,800 hectares of land in Gallura, Sardinia, thanks to his commitment and keen business sense became a magnet for investment from all over the world. Indeed, the Costa Smeralda represented an absolutely pioneering and unprecedented project in Italy that transformed that stretch of coastline with its crystal-clear waters, white sand and granite rocks shaped by the Mistral into a center of the international jet set and a destination that has made the history of world tourism.

Also in Sardinia, the Aga Khan in the mid-1960s founded the Alisarda airline, which later became Meridiana, then helped build the Olbia-Costa Smeralda airport in 1969, and later founded the prestigious Costa Smeralda Yacht Club.

It was he who sponsored “Azzurra” in the America’s Cup.

But the Aga Khan has remained in the hearts of Italian sailors especially for that wonderful adventure that was “Azzurra,” the first challenge of an Italian boat in the mythical America’s Cup. That project was launched in 1983 by Karim Aga Khan himself, who with the invaluable help of Gianni Agnelli involved a group of sponsors to finance the participation of the Italian syndicate in the trophy.

Azzurra came third in the U.S., but it was like a victory because Cino Ricci, Mauro Pelaschier and teammates returned to Italy welcomed as heroes. In fact, with that feat they had made an entire population fall in love with a sport until then considered for the few.

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Upon his death, Aga Khan IV leaves behind four children: Princess Zahra, Prince Rahim, Prince Hussain and Prince Aly Muhammad, as well as his brother, Prince Amyn Muhammad, and half-sister, Princess Yasmin. The prince will be buried in Lisbon.

D.I.