Remo Zenobi was born in Rome on May 23, 1891.
His father was a tailor and Remo was brought up in the central Monti area of Rome.
In his youth he was a decent runner in Lazio's athletics team. He then worked in the aeronautical field.
His first involvement with Lazio came in 1923 when he and five partners set up a company to help finance the expansion and restructuring of the Rondinella stadium's stands.
In 1926, when Lazio officially became SS Lazio with its ten different sports sections, he was on the Board of Directors.
In 1929 the first single national Serie A tournament was played. Lazio's president was Ettore Vanni while Zenobi took charge of Lazio's football section. He chose Ferenc Molnar as manager, replaced him with Pietro Piselli and then called Hungarian back. Lazio finished 15th.
In this period, he not only followed the sporting aspects but also focused on improving Lazio's financial situation.
In 1930-31 Lazio finished 8th and Zenobi started his Brazilian phase. He signed the two Fantoni cousins, Juan and Octavio, who would be followed by several others to form what became as the "Brasilazio" period.
The disappointing 13th place and criticism of his choices led him to resign on June 14, 1932.
He then changed his mind and returned after four months and became Commissioner of the Lazio football section. He chose Austrian Karl Sturmer as manager due to his ability in developing young player and the club focused increasingly on the youth sector.
It was in this period that the Lazio "Pulcini" side (9-11 age) hugely impressed Vienna and not only when they drew with the formidable Wacker team, aged 12 to 14.
On April 30 1933, Eugenio Gualdi became SS Lazio president and Zenobi became president of the football section. The two had different styles as Gualdi had a more business-like and modern approach while Zenobi was more old school wanting to run the club like a family. The two clashed and Gualdi took over both roles.
In these years Lazio finished 10th, 5th (in Silvio Piola's first year), 7th, 2nd and 8th.
This changed on April 29, 1938 when Gualdi resigned and Zenobi became president of the football section again. He brought in manager Jozsef Viola but then replaced him with Luigi Allemandi after 19 games and Lazio finished 10th.
Zenobi was careful with his spending and improved the club's financial situation. He gained a lot of power inside the club, he was a gentle, friendly character but could also be hard and stubborn. Such as when he left Olympic champion Libero Marchini out of the squad for a year after discovering had negotiated a move to Torino.
Zenobi also had clashes with the press and he often kicked overly critical journalists out even if they belonged to powerful pro-regime newspapers.
On April 9 1940 Zenobi became General President of S.S. Lazio.
The early 40's were difficult years with the powers that be deciding a lot of what went on also in the football context.
The war then intensified and it was rumoured Zenobi was about to abandon the football world.
His love for Lazio however convinced him to continue. He took on Alexander Popovich who introduced a more modern style of play.
In 1943 however, with the Nazi occupation in Rome, Zenobi declared that the SS Lazio Board of Directors had resigned, him included, and that the club was placed in the hands of a committee of founder members whose task was to promote athletics, football and general healthy exercise for the moral and physical education of the younger generations. He also stated that Lazio was independent and had nothing to do with any political or religious beliefs.
In the meantime, numerous Jews and people wanted by the nazi-fascists were hosted and hidden in the "Circolo Canottieri Lazio" (Lazio Rowing Club) in line with Lazio's original values of solidarity.
After the war the president was Andrea Ercoli and in 1948 Renato Bornigia briefly.
The Lazio Board only met again in May 1949 and Zenobi became president again. This time he collaborated with Gualdi and chose Mario Sperone as manager. These were good years for Lazio with the arrival of Lucidio Sentimenti IV, Primo Sentimenti V, Zeffiro Furiassi, Norbert Höfling, Dionisio Arce to name a few. Lazio finished 4th three times, won 5 derbies out of 6, with one draw, and had three players included in the Italy national team.
They were positive years under Sperone and then Giuseppe Bigogno but also ones of missed opportunities as the big northern clubs modernised and evolved Lazio remained anchored in its patriarchal and family style approach. Zenobi was unwilling to invest and was accused of being unambitious. His opposition to the signing of Vittorio Bergamo from Sampdoria was an example, Bergamo then arrived anyway.
It was in this period that the new Olympic Stadium, which he was all in favour of, was being built at the foot of Montemario hill. One of his excuses for not investing enough was his famous phrase, "Without a great stadium one can't have a great team".
On April 14 he resigned but left the assembly hall amid emotional applause and was given a gold medal for his services to Lazio. Antonio Annunziata took his place and then Costantino Tessarolo.
It is possible he planned to return again once the new stadium was completed but he never got the chance as he died suddenly on May 11, 1953, from a heart attack on the island of Ischia. Six days later on May 17 the Stadio Olimpico was inaugurated.
Zenobi is an important figure in Lazio history. He was president of Lazio football from 1929-32, 1932-33, 1938-39 and 1949-53 plus general president from 1940-43. He was known as the "Presidentone" (The Big President /Boss). He coined the famous phrase, then copied by Roma fans, "Lazio should not be questioned, only loved".
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