Costantino Tessarolo was born in Schio (Vicenza) on February 23, 1895.
He made his money in the Pasta business before arriving in Rome and continuing in various industrial entrepreneurial ventures.
His name was first linked to Lazio in 1949. He got involved with the club as a Councillor, with Remo Zenobi as president and Eugenio Gualdi as the main economic backer.
In 1952 Zenobi was re-elected as president but then ten days later gave up the position and Tessarolo took on a more prominent role in the club. On April 14 1953 Zenobi definitely resigned due to Lazio's increasing debts. He died 28 days later.
A new board of directors was formed and Antonio Annunziata set forth an industrial plan which was however rejected. At this point Tessarolo was temporarily given the position of president.
Tessarolo's plan was to invest heavily despite Lazio’s debts. His idea was that to improve the financial situation, the club should have a strong and competitive team.
Tessarolo was president for three seasons.
He immediately went on a spending spree, signing Alberto Fontanesi (SPAL), Renzo Burini (Milan) and Pasquale Vivolo (Juventus). The manager was Mario Sperone, for the first 24 games, followed by Federico Allasio. Lazio finished 11th.
In 1954-55 he kept Allasio on for the first 7 games and then replaced him with George Raynor, with Roberto Copernico as technical director. In the summer he had signed defenders Attilio Giovannini (Inter) and Carlo Parola (Juventus) plus forward John Hansen (Juventus). He also let keeper Lucidio Sentimenti IV (Vicenza) go. Lazio had a good season and finished 3rd. Tessarolo won his first derby when Lazio beat Roma 3-1 on March 6 and the Biancocelesti also beat Inter and Juventus.
In 1955-56 he brought in manager Luigi Ferrero but replaced him with Jesse Carver after 14 matches. In the summer he had again invested in decent players: defender Franco Carradori (Palermo), forwards Ermes Muccinelli (Juventus) and Arne Selmosson (Udinese). He also brought back keeper Roberto Lovati and defender Giovanni Molino from loan periods at Monza and Torino. Leaving among others were the two Scandinavians, Per Bredesen (Udinese) and Sigvard Lofgren (SPAL), to finance the new signings. Lazio had another good season finishing 3rd again. The Biancocelesti beat Inter and Milan away and Roma and Juventus at home.
Good results and performances on the field however came at a price. In 1956 he again invested: in midfielders Luigi Moltrasio (Torino), forwards Karl Aage Praest (Juventus) and Humberto Tozzi (Palmeiras). The club debts had soared to 950 million lire. The board meeting on November 4 1956 demanded a change and elected a new guidance in the duo Leonardo Siliato and Antonio Alecce. Tessarolo lost touch with the club for a while.
He reappeared on November 29 1960 in a Lazio General Assembly and was named as Special Commissioner. In February 1961 however, he resigned and terminated his collaboration with Lazio.
The new commissioner in charge was Massimo Giovannini while the next real president would be Ernesto Brivio in 1962-63.
Costantino Tessarolo achieved positive results on the pitch with two prestigious 3rd places but his policy of overspending ultimately was his downfall. A familiar story which would repeat itself even more acutely 50 years later.
Costantino died in Rome on July 26, 1988.
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