History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family: holidays and gifts, which always have a meaning

One Christmas in the early 1970s, I received a small electric train from Dad. It is beautiful but trains and mechanics don't interest me, they are his passions. I exchange it for some Violetta's succulent plants. Bernardo however uses this episode to repeat a recurring idea of his: Violetta is smarter than me, 'she is a future businesswoman' he says. Instead I am referred to as 'the thinker'. I don't dislike the term, but I believe that Bernardo basically despises literati, journalists, professors, whom he lumps together with the left-wing intelligentsia that his ex-wife Giorgina frequents. In the case of the little train, what counts for our father is only the material value of the object, which is certainly higher than that of the plants.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family: Giuseppe as a child, c. 1966.

With our father, we also experience beautiful and carefree moments. With him we listen to music, we talk, we laugh, we joke, we watch some television, we even go on holidays and trips together. But around the age of 10 something already starts to go wrong. I look a lot like my cheating mother, I also have a good relationship with her, and Dad doesn't get that. I also miss physical affection so much: never a hug or a caress from him.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family: Carla Fossati Bellani Venosta, 1958

Carla Fossati Bellani Venosta (1924 - 2019), was my grandfather Guido Venosta's second wife. She was an internationally renowned designer. In 2000 he promoted the establishment of the 'European Foundation Guido Venosta, the man against cancer' (today 'Fondazione Guido Venosta'), whose aim was and is, 'to honour Guido Venosta's memory and borrow his experience, to promote and contribute to raising public education towards the highest cultural ideals and solidarity'.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family: Bernardo Caprotti and Giorgina’s wedding, November 1958, Uncle Claudio and Grandmother Marianne

"Grandma has a weakness: she is madly in love with her third son, my uncle Claudio. Some friends told me that Claudio was allowed to have breakfast and lunch in bed when he was in Albiate. Bernardo suffered from this unique relationship and I am convinced that jealousy between the two brothers was one of the causes of the quarrels that shook our family.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family: Bernardo Caprotti and Giorgina’s wedding, November 1958. Grandmother Luisa with her mother

My mother is a little younger than Guido Caprotti, the second of the three brothers, and with her mother and brother she spends the summer in Forte dei Marmi, where the Caprotti family also spends their holidays. At Forte Giorgina meets Bernardo, who is twice her age but is intelligent, charming, with a wry and ready wit. She just wants to run away from home, and the idea of joining a family as apparently united as Bernardo's attracts her; he has decided that the time has come to settle down, and a young bride from Milan's upper industrial bourgeoisie suits him perfectly.

History of the Caprotti and Venosta families

The Caprotti family’s ancestors: my maternal great-grandmother Adele Portaluppi Quintavalle, grandmother Luisa’s mother, 1942

Adele was the sister of Piero Portaluppi, a well-known Milanese architect, and belonged to the Milanese upper middle class. In the photo she is in the centre between her daughter Luisa Quintavalle, holding her own daughter Giorgina Venosta, and a third woman identifiable as Luisa Gadda Portaluppi, Adele and Piero's mother, Milan, April 1942.