De Nora: Stories from a century of life

The book celebrating 100 years since the founding of the historic Italian multinational company.

In the early 1920s, Oronzio De Nora was a young electrochemistry researcher at Politecnico di Milano. Experimenting with a new electrolytic cell, he cut his finger; he dipped the wound into the plant’s oxygenated and electrified solution and invented Amuchina, a chlorine disinfectant. A touch of luck, a touch of genius. Over the course of the 20th century, the De Nora company became a world leader in the production of chlorine and soda; it developed hundreds of patents and established itself as one of the key drivers for industrial development.

After a century of history and three De Nora generations, the company is now a multinational group, listed on the Stock Exchange, looking towards the sustainable future of the planet, energy conversion, and decarbonization. There is always an electrolytic cell behind the most advanced forms of green hydrogen production and water purification treatments.

De Nora. Stories from a century of life recounts this exciting race towards the future. Luca Masia has written it in the form of short stories, in a narrative style that captivates the reader’s attention from the very first pages. With an artist’s gaze, Luca Campigotto – one of the most widely appreciated Italian photographers on the international scene – has documented the complex reality of De Nora: research laboratories, large-scale production, and specialized technicians.

Its words and images illustrate a journey of scientific discoveries and technological innovations undertaken with ingenuity and dedication, while always putting people at the heart of the enterprise.