Susanna Agnelli, a scion of the Agnelli family which controls Italian car maker FIAT and Italy's only female foreign minister, died yesterday at a hospital in Rome. She was 87.

Ms Agnelli, who had been recovering in Rome's Gemelli hospital after injuring her femur bone last month, was the granddaughter of Giovanni Agnelli who founded the Italian auto giant in 1899. Her charismatic brother Gianni was chairman of the company for 30 years.

Beginning her political career as a local mayor in Tuscany, Susanna Agnelli was elected to Parliament in 1976 for the Italian Republican Party (PRI) and became a senator in 1983.

She was named foreign minister in the government of centrist Prime Minister Lamberto Dini in 1995. An accomplished writer, she published several books including a popular memoire.

A well-loved figure in Italy, news of her death brought tributes from public figures and politicians from several parties.

"Our country mourns the serious loss of a protagonist in its history," Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo said.

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