Skiers on the slopes of Cortina d’Ampezzo, photograph by Robert Capa, (Bellezza d’Italia, Christmas issue, 1951)
For Franco Dompé, Cortina d’Ampezzo represented much more than an Alpine setting: it was the place where his personal life and entrepreneurial journey intertwined. It was here, in the 1930s, that he discovered his passion for bobsleigh, a sport that would profoundly shape his future. On 9 January 1937, during a bobsleigh run, Franco was thrown violently from the track. The accident caused multiple fractures and resulted in two years in hospital.
Franco Dompé (left) in a bobsleigh with Lino Zanettin at the Oslo Olympics (1952)
This experience of suffering sparked in him a clear determination: to build an industrial enterprise capable not only of producing medicines, but also of supporting the work of doctors and alleviating patients’ pain. This vision — conceived as a true “healthcare mission in the service of the common good”— formed both the inspiration and the foundation on which, at just 29 years of age, Franco established Dompé farmaceutici.
Franco’s determination as an entrepreneur also found expression in sport. After the Second World War, he returned to competition, taking part in the 1950 World Championships in Cortina with the athletes of the Cortina Bob Club. The membership card no. 1 for the 1952-1953 season testifies to the entrepreneur's lifelong passion for bobsleigh, while also representing his connection to one of Italy's oldest sporting associations. At the time, the town was a vibrant cultural crossroads, frequented by athletes, celebrities and intellectuals such as Ernest Hemingway, whom Franco met there, on the occasion of the prize-giving ceremony of the World Bobsleigh Championships. The event was held on Sunday, 5 February 1950, at the Hotel Bellevue, at the conclusion of the championships. His sporting career soon culminated in his participation in the 1952 Oslo Olympics: Franco Dompé was part of the Italian national two-man bobsleigh team, alongside the Ampezzo athlete Lino Zanettin. His association with the Cortina Bob Club led him to compete in several events, from the Italian two-man bobsleigh championship in 1953 to the Italian National Championships in 1954, both held in Cortina.
Membership card no. 1 of the Bob Club Cortina issued to Franco Dompé (1952)
World Bobsleigh Championships, poster by Franco Rondinelli (1950)
Franco Dompé and Ernest Hemingway, photograph by Giuseppe Ghedina (5 February 1950)
The connection between sporting passion and industrial capability found its fullest expression in 1956, when Cortina hosted the first Winter Olympic Games held in Italy.
On that occasion, Dompé farmaceutici played an active role in the organisation of the event, managing the entire transport service for medicines — an effort documented in the historic film Operazione S.O.S.
Medical services at the VII Winter Olympic Games, advertisement (Bellezza d’Italia, no. 2, 1956)
Cortina Olympics: pairs figure skating training, (February 1956)
"La grande S - Franco Dompé memorial", Bronze sculpture, Cortina d’Ampezzo
The dialogue between sport and science continues with the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games. An event that the Dompé Foundation celebrates by combining a multimedia narrative with sculpture, paying tribute to the places that marked a turning point in the story of Franco Dompé and Dompé farmaceutici.
