Marcello Gori was exactly what a man of yesteryear calls himself: elegant, honest, and incredibly passionate.

In fact, from a very young age he began to cultivate his passions.

Although engaged in the family workshop in Via del Corso in Florence, Marcello loved to attend painting courses in Via degli Artisti, which he paid for by cleaning the studios of Masters Peyron and Rosai.

Thus, he carried on his two greatest passions: painting and leather goods.

At the age of 29, he devoted himself entirely to his passion for leather, realizing his biggest project: Scuola del Cuoio. The school was founded in 1950 thanks to the support, both moral and economic, of his brother-in-law as well as his most trusted friend Silvano Casini and thanks to the collaboration of the Franciscan Friars. Scuola del Cuoio is located inside the ancient dormitory of the Monastery of Santa Croce, donated by Cosimo De 'Medici in the 15th century and frescoed by the Ghirlandaio School.

The aim was to give a chance to young people who otherwise would not have had a future: orphans of World War II, juvenile prison inmates, intellectual disabilities.

For this reason, in 1968 Marcello Gori was recognized, by the then President of the Republic Giuseppe Saragat and by Prime Minister Aldo Moro, with the honor of Cavaliere del Lavoro.

As a reserved man, no one knew about it until his death when his daughters found the certificate among his things and decided to frame it and exhibit it in the laboratories of Scuola del Cuoio. The certificate displays the pride for their father and what he was always fighting for: helping others unconditionally and out of the spotlight.

Marcello Gori died on December 13, 2003, leaving a great void in the hearts of his family and collaborators and a very precious task: to carry on what he had started 53 years earlier.