The Caprotti family and the Manifattura: the workers with my great-grandfather Bernardo Caprotti, September 1924
I often heard from Lucia about my great-grandfather Bernardo Caprotti that he was 'a family person', who had worked at the Manifattura Caprotti, before coming to stay with us in Milan
Presentation of the book ‘Le Ossa dei Caprotti’ in Turin on 27 May 2024
The event was held on 27 May. The transcript, edited by Eleonora Sàita, made the content of this presentation unique – and was added to the videos and photos on 1 August 2024. Article updated 7 August 2024
My grandfather Giuseppe Caprotti, called Peppino (1889- 1952), the First World War, the textile factory and Esselunga
From my grandfather’s medals to ‘Le Ossa dei Caprotti’, with the insider trading in Pirelli shares bought with profits from the factory
Caprotti family Easter egg hunt, 1964
For us, children with transalpine blood and habits, hunting for Easter eggs among the meadows and trees has always been a habit. With our mothers and cousins we would scatter around the countryside, well dressed and the girls in their hats; the customary photo would follow, like this one, full of the tenderness of memories, perfect for wishing everyone a peaceful Easter.
Giuseppe Caprotti portrayed as Benefactor of the Ca’ Granda Foundation, 2023
When my mother Giorgina Venosta passed me the baton of the Guido Venosta Foundation, created in memory of her father and my grandfather, we were in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. As President, I then tried to intervene as much as possible with concrete aid to cope with the emergency; among these was the donation of 12 intensive care beds at the Policlinico di Milano. And the Foundation that runs it, in keeping with a centuries-old tradition that began in 1459, has paid tribute to this charity by dedicating a portrait to me
Le Ossa dei Caprotti: San Valerio martyr, 3rd-4th century AD.
Why the title 'Le Ossa dei Caprotti'?
The Caprotti family and the Esselunga supermarkets: the Aprilia egg, 1950s
Nelson Rockefeller did not only ownEsselunga in Italy. He also owned a company, in Aprilia, that produced eggs.... In 1961, when by then all four of the planned Milanese shops had been opened, the balance sheet figures for the previous year - $200,000 net revenue - showed that not only the idea, but his way of realising it had been successful. Efficient logistics had been created, from the central warehouse to the purchase of large quantities of goods at favourable prices, but also a production chain of its own: IBEC took over a large poultry farm in Aprilia, the 'Chicken City', and turned it into a laying hen farm with an egg processing plant.
The Caprotti family: Bernardo known as Nardo in his youth, 1868-1928
After the Milan Riots of 1898, Bernardo Caprotti, as a member of the Republican Party, was forced to take refuge in Germany together with another Party member, his uncle-in-law Carlo (he had in fact married his daughter, cousin Bettina).
The Caprotti family: FAIDA
Great-grandfather Bernardo against his brother Emilio. The continuous alternation of love and hate, balance and rivalry. History is a teacher of life. And it repeats itself, because few learn. Fortunately, thanks to grandfather Peppino, the two brothers spent the Christmas holidays of the last years of their lives together. The feud was over, the two brothers had learned a positive lesson from their clashes.
The Caprotti family entrepreneurs: Emilio (1871-1963)
Bernardo's younger brother Emilio shared a complex bond of balance and rivalry with him, both as a partner and competitor in various manufacturing ventures and as a brother. The outcome of this feud was inevitably the complete bankruptcy of the businesses they founded together, with particularly heavy consequences for Emilio.
