.750 gold medal presented to Ottorino Barassi on the occasion of the Torino Simbolo v River Plate

.750 gold medal presented to Ottorino Barassi on the occasion of the Torino Simbolo v River Plate Benefit Match 26th May 1949 to raise funds for the bereaved families of the Superga Air Disaster 4th May 1949, the obverse with a design of Nike, Winged Godess of Victory, supporting a stricken footballer, inscribed with the latin motto CORDIUM CONSENSUS VITAM PARIT NOVELLA [the consensus of hearts prepares the renewal of life], the reverse with the Turin Bull city symbol, a football and laurel branch, and inscribed 26.V.1949, SOLIDARIETA, RIVER PLATE TORINO SIMBOLO, diameter 30mm., weight 11gr. The 4th May 1949 was the most tragic day in Italian football history. That was the day the Grande Torino died, an entire squad that perished when the plane carrying them home from a friendly game at Benfica crashed into the Superga hillside overlooking Turin amidst the thick fog that hangs so often above the Po Valley.The great Torino side of the 1940s won five consecutive Serie A titles in the war interrupted seasons between 1942-43 and 1948-49. At their zenith, 10 of the Italian national team’s starting XI came from Ernő Egri Erbstein’s Torino team.During the dark days of the Second World War, the city’s football team had been a beacon of hope only for the Torino Granata to have their boys taken away whilst at the peak of their powers, in the most shocking circumstances. More than 500,000 people took to the streets for the funeral two days after the crash and the Palazzo Madama, where the bodies had been laid in a chapel of rest, was besieged by mourners who wanted to catch one last glimpse of their idols.But the legend of the Grande Torino had travelled around the globe and the tragedy was mourned far and wide. Several South American football associations declared May 4 a ‘day of football’ in solidarity with the fallen Torino team who had made such an impression across the Atlantic Ocean on a tour the previous summer. River Plate, however, went further.The Argentinian club had enjoyed a golden era of their own in the 1940s and counted many of Buenos Aires’ significant Italian community among their supporters. Their president at the time, Antonio Liberti, was one of them, and within an hour of hearing about the plane crash at Superga, he had made up his mind to fly his team to Turin for a benefit match to raise money for the bereaved families.Upon their arrival in Italy, Liberti was met with an emotional embrace on the runway from his Torino counterpart Ferruccio Novo, signalling the start of a unique friendship between the two clubs that remains as strong as ever today.The game – against a Serie A select XI who played under the name ‘Torino Simbolo’ – took place on 26 May, three weeks after the disaster. River Plate’s star-studded side included Alfredo Di Stefano, while Juventus legend Giampiero Boniperti was among those who pulled on the granata jersey of his club’s city rivals. The symbolic Torino team was captained by Pietro Ferraris, the Grande Torino winger who had left the club the previous summer after winning four consecutive scudetti. A 2-2 draw seemed fitting on an emotional afternoon, but the gestures of solidarity went further. in June, Torino’s president Novo – accompanied by legendary Italy forward Silvio Piola, who had played for Torino during the war – was invited to Buenos Aires to receive a special presentation from Evita Peron.Since the 1950s, the two clubs have regularly used each other’s home colours for their respective away kits. Provenance: By family descent. The following lots 428 to 460 were awarded to Italian Sports Official Ottorino Barassi. For Biographical information regarding Ottorino Barassi see lot 428.