Giuseppe Annoscia  
Beppe Annoscia, proponent of this "tous azimouts" strategy, became president and general director of Universalis, after spending a lifetime directing Britannica. Born in Bari, Italy, from a family of Russian origins, graduated in Economy and Commerce, Annoscia had one big ambition: give an international dimension to a convoluted Universalis, which is especially known in France. He would like Universalis to have the same key-role in the Francophone world, as Britannica has in the Anglo-American culture.
"When I used to work to give an international dimension to Britannica we worked in 102 countries. From Colombia to Afghanistan, everyone had heard about the encyclopaedia. Internet can help us to the same for Universalis". President of Britannica in Europe, Africa and Middle East from 1990 to 1999, after being the general director for the Italian branch, Annoscia was convinced that "a paying knowledge website" is possible, but also sure that one doesn't have to put things all together: he proposed a co-existence of paper, CD-Rom, DVD and Internet.
The new Universalis paper edition arrived at a distance of seven years from the last one: 28 big illustrated volumes for a total of 28.000 pages.