Early and Personal Life
Emerson Fittipaldi is the youngest son of prominent Brazilian motorsports journalist and radio commentator Wilson Fittipaldi Sr and his wife Józefa "Juzy" Wojciechowska, an immigrant from Poland of Polish and Russian descent. He was named after American author and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Both his parents had raced production cars shortly after the Second World War and Wilson Sr was also responsible for the first Mil Milhas race in 1956, in São Paulo, having been inspired by the 1949 Italian Mille Miglia. Emerson became a motorsports enthusiast at an early age.
Emerson Fittipaldi is the younger brother of former Formula One driver and team owner Wilson Fittipaldi. He is the uncle of former CART, Formula One and NASCAR driver Christian Fittipaldi. He was married to Maria Helena from 1970 to 1982. They had three children together, Juliana, Jayson and Tatiana. He was married again, to Teresa, in the mid-1980s. They have one daughter, Joana, and a son, Luca. Now, he has another son, Emerson Fanucchi Fittipaldi, born on March 6, 2007, with his new wife, Rossana Fanucchi Fittipaldi.
In his youth in Brazil, Emerson was known as 'Rato' - mouse, which contrasts with 'Tigrão' - big tiger - for his brother. By the end of his career he was most commonly known as 'Emmo' in the United States and the UK.
In September 1997, Fittipaldi, while recovering from injuries in a crash at Michigan International Speedway a year earlier, was flying his private plane across his orange tree farm in São Paulo, Brazil. The plane lost power and plunged 300 feet (91 m) to the ground. He suffered serious back injuries. He recovered, and became a born again Christian.
He was a friend of George Harrison and was with The Beatles guitarist shortly before Harrison died in November 2001.
Read more about this topic: Emerson Fittipaldi
Famous quotes containing the words early, personal and/or life:
“Although good early childhood programs can benefit all children, they are not a quick fix for all of society’s ills—from crime in the streets to adolescent pregnancy, from school failure to unemployment. We must emphasize that good quality early childhood programs can help change the social and educational outcomes for many children, but they are not a panacea; they cannot ameliorate the effects of all harmful social and psychological environments.”
—Barbara Bowman (20th century)
“... goodness is of a modest nature, easily discouraged, and when much elbowed in early life by unabashed vices, is apt to retire into extreme privacy, so that it is more easily believed in by those who construct a selfish old gentleman theoretically, than by those who form the narrower judgments based on his personal acquaintance.”
—George Eliot [Mary Ann (or Marian)
“Hard if, though cast away for life with Yankees,
A Frenchman couldn’t get his human rating!”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)