Sergio Erede, a prominent corporate lawyer in Italy, passed away at the age of 86 on the night of Friday, October 16th, and Saturday, October 17th. He died in a Genoa hospital after suffering an accidental fall at his Ligurian residence. He was born in Florence in 1940 and was widely regarded as the dean of Italian commercial law. He attended Harvard Law School in the United States, as did many other business lawyers of his generation. In 1999, he founded Bonelli Erede Pappalardo, now Bonelli Erede, with Franco Bonelli and Aurelio Pappalardo, one of the country's major law companies. He was a trusted lawyer for leading entrepreneurs including Gilberto Benetton and Leonardo Del Vecchio, the creator of Luxottica, which owns Ray-Ban and Oakley. He managed some of the most major transactions in Italian economic history, including Olivetti's acquisition of Telecom Italia, the privatization of Autostrade, and Enel's listing on the public exchange. He served on the boards of many publicly traded companies, including Autogrill, a restaurant group that also operates in American airports. The Bonelli Erede legal firm recognized him as a mentor to entire generations of lawyers and a legend in the profession, even beyond national lines. With him, one of the most prominent figures in Italian capitalism during the previous half-century has died.